Why the Masters Could Paint So Loosely

Comments · 26

• CH

  @ChelseaLang · 4 days ago · pinned

  Grab your free accuracy tool here: <a href="https://painterly.work/4d40Y9T">https://painterly.work/4d40Y9T</a>

  3

• JS

  @JSandLDS · 3 days ago (edited)

  I know that Sargent&apos;s portraits weren&apos;t all the same level of looseness, and varied even within the painting, depending on it being a face, or clothing etc, but I think in general his faces are a midway point, but slightly closer to your &apos;Bear&apos; than your super-loose one. His loosest brushwork tended to be in the hair, clothing and surroundings. What makes his portraits exceptional, is also something very hard to define. A kind of distilling of the attitude and demeanour of the sitter, which appears to transcend technique. He knew not only how to make it look like the person, but represent their entire being in the most efficient manner. The enigmatic &apos;smile&apos; of Mona Lisa is celebrated, but Sargent did something equally extraordinary almost every time.

  14

• PA

  @PaulBierce · 21 hours ago

  One mistake I&apos;ve made is confusing &quot;painterly&quot; with &quot;fast&quot;. Just because a brush stoke (or in the case of your calligraphy example a letter) looks like it was &quot;dashed off&quot; quickly doesn&apos;t mean it was. It might have been very deliberately created with great care while still appearing fresh and spontaneous. I would imagine Sargent was quite methodical with his brush work even when it looks like he wasn&apos;t.

  2

• SA

  @SaraBearaPumpkin · 2 days ago (edited)

  This is a wonderful video, thanks for making! And so glad it was recommended to me :)

  2

• RG

  @rgarewal100 · 4 days ago (edited)

  Look out! There&apos;s a Bear behind you!

  9

• LI

  @littlepinkpebble · 1 day ago

  from what i know he would do many detailed studies till he knew the subject matter super well like for madame x... then for the final he did it super quick like a speed painting..

  1

• MB

  @mbalberts · 4 days ago

  Thank you 😊 you are an excellent teacher.

  2

• PA

  @patriziawood3817 · 4 days ago

  Always free with such great info. Thank you

  2

• SO

  @sounds-of2020vision · 25 minutes ago

  A good lecture you gave. Thank you,

• JH

  @JH-pe3ro · 2 days ago

  Something I&apos;ve noticed on my art journey is that changing subject, genre and scale from time to time helps to explore the compositional aspects of detail. If we do 100 portraits of similar faces on a similar size canvas, it becomes a bit easy to gravitate towards repetition of the same composition and process. Shifting to a full figure alters that balance because now you will be inclined to use fewer brush strokes for the same features, and likewise from figure to landscape you may start to indicate the figure with just a few strokes. That understanding carries itself back into the detailed work, where you can approach it with a specific idea of what will look fresh if you intentionally preserve a certain level of development, and seek earlier answers to accuracy so that they don&apos;t interfere with that process.

  1

• LO

  @longhairmullet · 14 hours ago

  Oooo I need this

• ER

  @ericsonhazeltine5064 · 4 days ago

  OMG! Why in all my years of art training did I not meet you?