Silk, red coats and woodland
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough’s sitters, and the country he liked to paint between them. Grace Dalrymple Elliott at full length in gold silk, Queen Charlotte under a cloud of powdered curls, a musician in a red coat holding his music, an officer in scarlet with gold at the shoulder, cottage children out gathering sticks in a dark wood, and a cart track winding into wooded hills. England in the 1770s and 1780s, with a light, quick brush.
As a puzzle
Faces and red coats first. The officer and the musician go quickly, and so does the gold of Mrs Elliott’s dress. The slow part is the ground: Queen Charlotte and Miss Sparrow sit in ovals of dark olive, and the wood behind the cottage children is nearly black. The brush is light and feathery, so leaves and silk soften at the edges. Keep the count moderate.
A good size here: 40–150 pieces.
Also filed under British Painting
Subjects here: PortraitsLandscapesChildren
7 pictures, pick one to build
