Thomas Eakins (1844–1916), The Writing Master, 1882. Oil on canvas, 30 x 34 1/4 in. (76.2 x 87 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, John Stewart Kennedy Fund, 1917. Public domain (CC0).

The Writing Master

Thomas Eakins, 1882. Oil on canvas.

Three-quarter view
Top light
Painting

An older man bent over his writing with his head bowed, lit from overhead so the light falls on his bald crown and brow while the room behind is dark; the head is small in the frame.

Open in the value study maker

The image is free to use for any purpose: the museum has released it into the public domain.

Value studies

The Writing Master as a study in 2 values — **Notan, 2 values.** Split at value 3.4: 84% of the picture is dark and 16% light.

The Writing Master as a study in 3 values — **3 values.** 73% dark (values 0 to 1.6), 14% middle (1.6 to 4.6) and 13% light (4.6 to 10).

The Writing Master as a study in 5 values — **5 values.** From darkest to lightest: 70%, 10%, 6%, 7% and 7% of the picture.

Split at the picture's natural breaks between light and dark, with Simplify at 5, as in the value study maker. Values run from 0 (black) to 10 (white).

Palette

#0E0F11Value 0.4, neutral
69%
#B4AB9AValue 7.0, warm
7%
#3A281AValue 1.8, warm
6%
#1C1D1AValue 1.1, neutral
5%
#5A3C1EValue 2.8, warm
5%
#7D694CValue 4.6, warm
4%
#B8916CValue 6.3, warm
4%

The 7 main colors run from value 0.4 to 7.0: 5 warm and 2 neutral. See warm and cool colors for how the labels are worked out.

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