John Singer Sargent

Have you heard of John Singer Sargent?

An American painter well known for his portraiture but in his later stages of painting he turned to watercolours frequently depicting landscapes from his various travels, the city of Venice being a favourite. He often used white gouache or opaque white watercolour paint to highlight the play of light off various surfaces because of its reflective sheen. This was used to good effect in creating differing textures of water. In contrast to his tightly rendered portraits, his watercolour artworks were painted using a looser brushwork technique that was more relaxed and gestural. His legacy includes over 2000 watercolours and countless sketches.