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14. The Study of Psychology
Q: How can you manage that; is it all a matter
of facial expression?
"To a certain extent it is, but by no means
entirely. If you study people observantly and
with understanding, you will soon see that they
have, each one of them, individualities of movement
and gesture, tricks and mannerisms even, which
are personal and characteristic, and in these
individualities you can often find a very helpful
clue to your sitter's temperament. They will guide
you in choosing for the portrait the movement
that is most natural and appropriate, and which
agrees best with the expression of the face. To
make a portrait convincing the right pose of the
body is very important. "
Q: Even so, I suppose the expression you get
in the face is the chief consideration.
"Well, that is what people are interested
in mostly, though it would be really amusing to
paint a portrait in which the face did not show
at all. It might be quite a good likeness if the
general characteristics of the sitter had been
skillfully realized. But the more shrewd the insight
one can obtain into the sitter's personality,
the more revealing will be the expression of the
face and especially of the eyes. Who was it that
called them the' windows of the soul'? That just
describes how they appear to the portrait painter
who is exploring the sitter's mind. I concentrate
on them from the first and I study them with the
closest possible attention through every stage
of the painting of the head so as to make them
as expressive as I possibly can.
The Portrait after
Six Hours' Work
The portrait after the second sitting of three
hours,
that is after six hours' work.
15. The Treatment of Hands
and Body
 Work
on
hands and
arms.
Q: And when the head is finished what do you
do next?
"By the time the head is finished I have
the body and hands firmly sketched in and the
background definitely suggested because, as you
have seen, my method is to develop the general
effect of the picture continuously. So I proceed
with the hands—and the feet when the opportunity
is given me to paint them—which I consider
quite as important for the revelation of character
and personality as the face itself and quite as
enjoyable to paint."
Q: Is it not supposed to he very difficult
to paint a hand properly?
"A hand is in some ways more difficult than
a head, for while the face has features which
do not change their relative positions and which
remain immobile until the whole head is moved,
the whole appearance of the hand can he altered
by even a slight movement of one of the fingers.
I insist that the painter should take a hand every
hit as seriously as a face and recognize how eloquent
it is in its power to tell us what are the intellectual
and physical qualities, and even the age, of the
person to whom it belongs."
Next in importance to the face are the sitter's
hands. The painter is here bringing the hands
up to the necessary degree of finish.
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he
brilliant Hungarian artist, Philip Alexius de László,
1869-1937, was the successor (in 1907) to Sargent's portrait
practice in London. In 1933 de László demonstrated
his dashing technique in a series of photographs, while answering
questions posed by the writer A.L. Baldry. The photos and
text were published in 1934 by The Studio Publications of
London, in volume six of their "How to Do It" series.