Drouet

Whistler used a copper plate as his sketch pad for this dramatic portrait. He drew directly onto the plate while the French sculptor Charles Drouet sat for him. He focused on his friend’s face, portraying him with a penetrating stare to match his sharp nose and pointed beard. Drouet’s body, in contrast, is sketchily rendered, contributing energy and spontaneity to the print.

This portrait is a type of etching known as drypoint. Drypoint does not use acid to create lines on the plate. Instead, lines are scratched into the plate’s surface using a sharp tool. This creates a burr, or thread of metal, on either side of the incised line. When printed, the burr creates the furry effect characteristic of this process.