Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Study of a Young Woman, ca. 1665–67. Oil on canvas, 17 1/2 x 15 3/4 in. (44.5 x 40 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, in memory of Theodore Rousseau Jr., 1979. Public domain (CC0).

Study of a Young Woman

Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1665–67. Oil on canvas.

Three-quarter view
Soft light
Painting

Bust-length, the body turned away to the right and the head turned back over the shoulder toward the viewer, in soft light from the left against a black ground.

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

Study of a Young Woman as a study in 2 values — **Notan, 2 values.** Split at value 2.8: 76% of the picture is dark and 24% light.

Study of a Young Woman as a study in 3 values — **3 values.** 65% dark (values 0 to 1.7), 20% middle (1.7 to 4.3) and 14% light (4.3 to 10).

Study of a Young Woman as a study in 5 values — **5 values.** From darkest to lightest: 42%, 24%, 14%, 10% and 11% 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

#0C0A06Value 0.3, neutral
44%
#1D1910Value 0.9, neutral
22%
#989996Value 6.3, neutral
7%
#2F3332Value 2.1, neutral
7%
#4B382AValue 2.5, warm
6%
#5D6462Value 4.2, neutral
6%
#745742Value 4.0, warm
5%
#B18C74Value 6.1, warm
4%

The 8 main colors run from value 0.3 to 6.3: 3 warm and 5 neutral. 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.

For iPhone and iPad.