Three Sketches of a Nun Wearing a Hat

This page of preliminary sketches by architect and artist Arnold William Brunner presents three variations of a figure—a nun in profile wearing an oversized bonnet or hat. The drawings employ quick pen lines with selective watercolor wash, a technique common to nineteenth-century design studies. The repeated figure suggests investigation of proportion, drapery, and silhouette from different angles. Such working sheets reveal the artist's process of visual refinement before final execution, whether for illustration, theatrical design, or architectural ornamentation. Brunner's dual practice in architecture and drawing was typical of American artists of his generation, who moved fluidly between disciplines.