Working With Each
Rembrandt van Rijn
Self-Portrait
1659
Oil on canvas, 84.5 × 66 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington
The thickest paint sits where light hits the face.
- The lights went in first as stubby dabs of heavy paint.
- After they dried, he went back over them with small touches of darker color that he left unblended.
- In the hair, lines were scratched into the wet paint with the end of the brush.
- The background and hands are thin by contrast.
Concepts
Image: National Gallery of Art open access · Public domain (NGA Open Access)