Van Gogh's ambition was to be a figure painter. Inpreparation for The Potato Eaters, his first major painting, he made more than forty studies of peasant heads. Following traditional academic practice, he also worked out the composition in many sketches. The style of the
final painting, however, is most unconventional. In hisdesire to create "a true peasant picture" Van Gogh eschewed sentimentality, emphasizing instead the coarseness of the peasants' features as a way to suggest the harsh reality of their life.