John Singer Sargent

John Singer Sargent reportedly often spent more time arranging his models than actually making his preliminary figure study sketches. These drawings show the level of detail that went into some works, as in the pair of pencil sketches of the young man, and the speed and simplicity of others, particularly in his sketches in charcoal. The thick grainy lines of the charcoal lent themselves to explorations of shape and shadow, while the drawings in graphite demonstrate the artist’s ability to precisely render the details of a subject’s face and physiognomy.