I used to think Van Gogh had a loose style. After seeing the paintings up close, I no longer think so. Although the images are constructed of many individual strokes of color, each of those paint strokes is carefully and deliberately applied. In this painting, see how the paint strokes are directional, showing different overall directions in the jacket.
Van Gogh Self Portrait at field easel
Here are close ups:
The next one’s blurry, but bear with me, the detailed shots turned out better.
These turned out better:
