Master Studies | Richard Rosebery

During 2023 I am participating in a portrait class that examines the work and painting styles and techniques of several of history’s greatest painters. This includes that of Diego Velázquez (1599 - 1660), the famous Spanish court painter of King Philip III at the height of the Spanish Golden Age. This also involved examining the work of John Singer Sargent (1826-1925), a modern proponent of Velázquez painterly style. Each of these master painters undertook a detailed near monotone underpainting before applying colour using quick though precise brush strokes.

In addition, I’ve studied the highly contrasted style (chiaroscuro) of Michelangelo Mersi da Caravaggio (1571 -1610) - a study in light and shadow.

These several works are my meagre attempts at copying or at least interpreting the mature style of each of these great artists.

The main image here is a copy of the central portion of the larger original John Singer Sargent painting completed in 1892 of the Belle Epoque socialite Lady Gertrude Agnew. My painting of her is oil on canvas, 35.5 x 45.5 cm.

My copy of the central figure in Diego Velázquez most famous work - Las Meninas - painted in 1650.

With Velázquez it is all about the raw umber monotone underpainting of quick, loose brush strokes. I completed the underpainting last week. Today I added the very limited colour palate of raw umber, ochre, Cadmium Red, ultramarine, black and whites - most as near washes.

Here is my completed copy of Diego Velázquez ‘The Seamstress’ circa 1540-50, oil on Italian linen, 30 x 40 cm.

In the early work of Velázquez - The Seamstress - which was never completed- Velázquez was constructing detailed raw umber, black and white under paintings but then applied his colour thickly in comparison to his later works. Here I even included the hand change never completed.

A study of the painting ‘Boy Bitten by a Lizard’ circa 1590 by Micheangelo Mersi da Caravaggio.

Caravaggio’s unique style of chiaroscuro, and his unconventional approach of life painting directly to canvas, greatly influenced art practice for several generations.