The best way, I'm told, to learn how to paint is to copy the great paintings you've seen. I love this painting by William-Adolphe Bouguereau so I gave it a shot - even though I can't pronounce his name properly!
I started by gathering as many reference photos of the original painting as I could. As it's such a loved painting, there are many copies, cheap prints and fakes I had to avoid. I can't get to see the original painting because it's currently in a private collection (deposited in the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, since September 22, 2022).
I had to do many drawings of the painting to get comfortable with it. Where are the darkest areas? Where is the light? What is understated in the painting but is difficult to do? So many things to think about and practice in pencil.
