The most formally unusual drawing in the entire collection — three figure studies in red chalk on bright green paper, the only colored-ground drawing Sidney made. The green paper changes everything: the red chalk reads as warm against the cool green ground, the figures appearing to glow with body heat against the botanical background.
The three figures are arranged across the sheet: two large figures at the top (a back-view figure and an arching figure) and a smaller seated figure at the lower left. The large figures at the top are the most dynamic — the left figure in a strong back-and-reaching pose, the right figure in an arching backward posture, the face tilted back, the arms extended.
The green ground is part of the composition's meaning: the bodies in red chalk against green have the quality of figures in a garden, or figures seen through leaves, or simply figures whose warmth is made visible by the cool botanical ground. This is the only drawing in the collection where the paper's color is an active part of the work.
The three figures and the colored ground together make this the most experimental drawing in the life drawing practice — the only time Sidney chose to work against a non-white, non-cream surface.