A Female head

Leslie's Female Head is a study in the preparatory tradition, demonstrating the careful observation of individual physiognomy that underpinned his finished literary paintings. Leslie worked methodically from studies — he was a skilled draughtsman who used preparatory drawings and oil sketches to work out the compositional and expressive problems of his finished pictures. As a professor of painting at the Royal Academy, he was particularly attentive to the relationship between study and finished work, and his teaching emphasized the importance of careful preparation. This head study, with its precise attention to facial structure and expression, reflects the academic tradition he both practiced and transmitted to his students.

The head study shows sensitive handling of flesh tones with warm, carefully modulated color. The expression is observed with the attention to character that Leslie brought to his literary illustrations.