I started off thinking about working from drawings, as I sometimes do because working from life for some paintings is inconvenient, to say the least. Anyway the other day while drawing I changed a pose (M1) because I noticed a shape made by hair. When I’d finished the next one (M2) I got interested in the different states of mind the drawings represented, so I did another (M3). All in the same session, same light &c.

Marietta 1, 2 & 3

So interested that the next time that model came I did a painted sketch (M4). When you work from life there are so many unpredictable elements what you get is often a surprise or at least not what you thought.

Marietta 4

This difference in expression first came strongly to my attention when I saw the drawing and painting Velazquez did of Bishop Borja. I think the painting is done from the drawing, possibly by someone else, because it doesn’t have anything like the depth of character or even the subtlety of modelling.

Velazquez, Bishop Borja. Drawing; Academy of San Fernando, Madrid. Painting; Museo de Arte, Ponce.

But the difference in the faces between the unofficial, private working drawing and the official, public painting says a lot about how the sitter wanted to be seen.