PaintsightGet the app on the App Store
Head of a Boy by Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula. Head of a boy turned three-quarters to the left, drawn in metalpoint with soft hatching on the far side of the face from light on the right.

Master of the Legend of Saint Ursula (1465–1490), Head of a Boy, 15th century. Metalpoint, sheet: 3 1/8 x 2 1/4 in. (8 x 5.7 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Guy Wildenstein Gift, 2008. Public domain (CC0).

Portrait references

Head of a Boy

  • Three-quarter view
  • Soft light
  • Drawing

Head of a boy turned three-quarters to the left, drawn in metalpoint with soft hatching on the far side of the face from light on the right.

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

Head of a Boy as a study in 2 values
Notan, 2 values. Split at value 8: 32% of the picture is dark and 68% light.
Head of a Boy as a study in 3 values
3 values. 19% dark (values 0 to 7.7), 40% middle (7.7 to 8.3) and 41% light (8.3 to 10).
Head of a Boy as a study in 5 values
5 values. From darkest to lightest: 10%, 21%, 29%, 37% and 4% 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

  • #E4D3C2Value 8.6, warm
    47%
  • #D9C6AEValue 8.1, warm
    33%
  • #C5B296Value 7.3, warm
    9%
  • #B7A388Value 6.8, warm
    5%
  • #F8EEE0Value 9.4, warm
    4%
  • #A59075Value 6.1, warm
    2%

The 6 main colors run from value 6.1 to 9.4: 6 warm. See warm and cool colors for how the labels are worked out.

Similar portraits

The Paintsight library of reference photos, filtered by tags such as Animals, Landscapes and Plein Air

Keep your references together

Paintsight keeps your reference photos in one place, with notan and value studies, the palette, a drawing grid sized to your canvas and design tools. Prop your iPad or iPhone by the easel and the screen stays awake.

Download Paintsight on the App Store

For iPhone and iPad.