Toronto Workshop: In the Studios of John Singer Sargent and His Peers

One of the things that makes John Singer Sargent's work special is his approach. It's very clear to see the bravura and the way that he uses brushwork to describe form, and especially to describe light and colour.
Sargent is one of the most influential direct painters of all time. Participants will work from copies of Sargent paintings to become familiar with the wet-into-wet alla prima technique that he used. This direct technique allows us to paint in a very quick and efficient way with expressive and realistic results.
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[@RobertF-]

Sargent's paintings are based on broad, bold brushstrokes. For the brushstrokes to be so big, it seems like it's necessary to simplify areas. For example, if he was painting an area of a beard, there are tons of little hairs and details in that area. Someone who is painting in an extremely photorealistic style will literally paint every little visible hair in that area one by one with dozens if not hundreds of little brushstrokes to show every little detail. But a more painterly style like Sargent's wants to paint that whole area in ONE brushstroke. To do that means it's necessary to leave out all the little details in that area. So it seems like simplifying areas and leaving out tiny details in some places is a really important part of painting in this kind of painterly style. Leaving out tiny details makes room for big brushstrokes.

[@HondoTrailside]

Did he ever actually paint a beard in one brushstroke (per area on the beard, I am not trying to be picky here). He has wonderful capture of the important elements of the likeness, but he would then get pretty abstract on things like fabrics and backgrounds. If viewed from an appropriate distance the effect is wonderful in putting in what people really look for. They don't count each thread or hair, but it still all has to be right. And by all accounts he really laboured over values and colours. He could be quite quantitative about those matters. There have been artists who painted virtually every hair, but the effects they created where despite great mastery and reputation, to this day, not as effective at capturing the portrait as other realizations that came later. Singer isn't so much swashbucklingly painterly, he just evolved what the real details were.

[@fijaystudio]

don't forget that his technique was for more efficient productivity and profit as well! They were not purists, the old masters!