I love seeing the studies and unfinished works from other artists. Both contemporary and past. I was looking through my folder of miscellaneous old masters and realized I had quite a few images of studies and works in progress. Some of them I have taken, but the majority are downloaded from auction houses.

There is so much to learn from these. Both in the methods and working practices, but also from the work ethic involved. So much work was often done in preparation for the paintings we admire. It is tempting to imagine many of our heroes sitting down and applying masterstrokes with every whip of the wrist, but reality is most great works are just that, work. And the result of hours of deliberation and decision making and the painting we see is the denouement.

Here are a ton of studies and unfinished works. Take some time to study those that intrigue and look at the details and try and get inside the head of the artist.

How fantastic is this canvas of studies above!? It is titled “Masterpieces from the Prado, A Series of Sketches”.

 

I hope you find these as useful I do. I think it’s fascinating to get a look into the mind and working process of so many artists.

Howard