They were a small part of his whole output.

But he and Velasquez worked in a totally different spirit.

Velasquez made the subject before him, however unpromising, striking because of its truth.
Reynolds liked to change it on occasion into something quite different, for the sake of making a picture pretty.

Nevertheless, his strength lay in straightforward portraiture, and in the rendering of character.
His portraits of men, unlike those of women, are dignified, simple, and restrained.

His art was one long development till blindness prevented him from working.