A bearded man with intense eyes and a furrowed brow dominates the upper left of the sheet, his head turned slightly to the right and his gaze fixed outward. Careful, dark hatching shapes the planes of his face and skull, with the lines growing denser around the eyes, cheekbones, and jaw, giving the portrait a striking sense of volume. Above and to the right, a second, partial study isolates a single eye, the bridge of a nose, and a mustached mouth, rendered in lighter, more tentative lines that suggest the artist’s search for form.

A faint, rectangular patch of paper covers the upper left corner, interrupting the drawing and leaving a blank space where the head’s crown would be. The background remains unworked, allowing the pale paper to serve as a neutral ground for the studies, and the artist’s hand is visible in the varied pressure and direction of each stroke. A loosely sketched head appears in the lower center of the sheet, with minimal shading and lighter, more tentative marks that leave much of the face undefined.

The lower portrait includes a thin, diagonal line at the mouth, suggesting a pipe or cigarette held between the lips. A few scattered brown stains are visible to the right of the central studies, interrupting the otherwise clean surface of the paper. Fine, parallel lines in the upper right study describe the curve of the eyelid and the texture of the mustache, contrasting with the heavier hatching elsewhere.

The edges and corners of the paper show slight discoloration and faint creases, indicating age and handling beyond the artist’s marks. The composition is informal and experimental, with the three studies overlapping slightly and the details scattered across the page, as if the artist is testing different approaches to his own likeness. Vincent van Gogh created this drawing in 1886, working in pencil and pen and ink. The subject is Vincent van Gogh, whose face and features appear in each study, exploring different expressions and angles. The unfinished and overlapping studies reveal the process of observation and revision, as van Gogh examines his own face from multiple viewpoints on a single sheet.