Portrait with a Side Parting

About the work

A large female face almost fills the sheet. Hair with a side parting forms a dark arc over the forehead and ends in short strands beside the cheeks. Firm reddish-brown lines define the eyes; the pale nose separates the softer left side from deep shadow on the right. Broad tonal transitions and an open shoulder contour indicate the turn of the neck.

Crisp eyelids, nostrils and lips contrast with diffuse hatching across the cheekbones. Paper shows through the sanguine, connecting the lit features to the ground. Slightly uneven eyebrows and mouth corners animate the frontal pose, while the cropped hair brings the face closer.