Young Girl at the Keyboard
1767
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1767
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Young Girl at the Keyboard is a 1767 chalk by Jacobus Buys, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows a girl in a soft pink dress, her hair pulled back with a ribbon. She’s holding an open book of music, her fingers resting on the page like she’s about to play. A fur-lined shawl drapes over her shoulders, and the background is just a faint outline of a room. The artist used a mix of red-orange and gray ink to give the drawing depth. The lines are loose but careful, almost like a quick sketch that still feels alive. Next, look up cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows with layers of lines.
