Pastels

Whistler's pastel drawings were small and intimate. Many were studies for portraits in oils, focusing on a single aspect such as the dress or face. These drawings have a freshness and spontaneity because they were carried out quickly and models did not have to pose for too long and get tired.

Most of Whistler's work in Venice was in pastel. He first sketched a rough outline of the scene in black, and then he added colour in dots and dashes, rubbing in areas to get rid of harsh lines. The immediacy of pastel was ideal for capturing the fleeting effects of light and movement.

Whistler was careful about the kind of paper he used for his pastels. Colour, texture and weight all mattered. He particularly liked working on fibrous brown paper because of its rough texture, which picked up the pastel well. He applied colour sparingly and used the paper itself as colour and background for his pastel drawings.

Whistler considered his pastels to be as important as his paintings and so exhibited them together. However, this view was not shared by his critics who only viewed pastels as a suitable medium for preliminary sketches for larger and more complex oil paintings.