So today I'm going to be drawing John Singer Sargent and this is the photo I'm going to be
drawing from. I chose this photo because it's pretty iconic and I just love his mustache. So
as usual I'm starting with a basic shape. It's a circle. I'm noticing his face is kind of boxy. A
little like an oval but a rounded square or rectangle. I'm gonna map that in right here.
Some fun facts you may or may not know: Sargent was born in Florence, Italy 1856
and was a son of an American doctor. He studied painting in both Italy and later in France,
and then later moved to England where he would spend the rest of his days. Sargent was considered
the leading portrait painter of his generation because of the feeling of Edwardian-era luxury
he brought to all of his pieces. Not only was he considered the most successful portrait
painter of his era but he was also a very skilled watercolorist and landscape painter.
Since I still want to capture the artist's essence, I still kind of follow it a little realistically.
The only thing I really change is make their eyes larger and kind of remove some details. And
now that I'm done my rough sketch, I'm going to be inking in with my marker. With my line art complete,
I'm going to be erasing my original rough sketch. And now I'm going to be coloring in my image.
For four years, from 1874 to 1878, Sargent studied under Charles Auguste Emile Durand, known better as
Carolus-Duran, a French painter and art instructor. His influence was pivotal because he was taught
a much more progressive way of painting called ala prima also known as wet on wet.
Rather than focusing on careful underpainting and planning,
the artist would work directly on a canvas with a loaded brush. The portrait of Carolus-
Duran that he painted later in 1879 would set the stage for his later works
and was used as both a tribute to his teacher and an ad for portrait commissions at the Paris salon.
Upon moving to London, England in 1886 commissions for his works were slow due to his previous
scandal in France where his painting of Madame Gautreau was heavily criticized for not following
posing conventions of the time, thus Sargent instead decided to focus on some impressionist
projects inspired by his multiple visits to Claude Monet in 1885 and 1886. One thing many critics
noted was how well Sargent was able to capture the personality of all his painted subjects
in his far later works. You can tell that Sargent really just wanted to paint for himself
where he painted many watercolor landscapes depicting his travels that felt a lot more
fun compared to his other portraits.
And here's the final piece! Thanks for watching and if you enjoyed this video, please give it a like!
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