A frontal pencil portrait of quiet presence — a young woman seen directly from the front, her face centered in the composition, her gaze directed outward with an expression that is neither challenging nor submissive but simply present. The hair falls to both sides of the face in loose waves, the overall mass balanced symmetrically.
The pencil work is lighter than in 918 — this face is described with less tonal buildup, the marks more suggestive than definitive. The eyes have the most specific rendering: the brows individually drawn, the lashes indicated at the upper lid, the irises given their roundness with a light circle and a small dark pupil. The overall effect is of a face in morning light — clear, unhurried, seen without drama.
The symmetry of the frontal view gives this portrait an unusual quality: most of the other portraits have some orientation — three-quarter, profile, turned — but this face looks straight out, and straight out is harder to draw because any asymmetry in the face itself becomes visible. Sidney drew what he saw without correcting it: the face is slightly asymmetrical in the way all real faces are.
The body below — shoulders, collar of a round-neck top — is briefly described. The drawing is about the face. The face is simply there, simply itself.