Daniel Gardner was an eccentric.
He sometimes would ask his sitters to show up in his studio at five o'clock in the morning.
There he would only allow the sitters to be present.
In his studio Gardner had a specially constructed easel with locking shutters since he refused to allow his sitters to see the work in progress.
Gardner never travelled without this special easel.
If he stayed in the house of his patron to do some portraits of him and his family he would even make it a condicio sine qua non to have his proper lockable workroom.

Gardner did not mix easily with his fellow artists, who viewed him as parsimonious, but he did form a close friendship with Joshua Reynolds and John Constable.
Gardner portrayed Constable in 1796.
Daniel Gardner was an eccentric. He sometimes would ask his sitters to show up in his studio at five o'clock in the morning. There he would only allow the sitters to be present. In his studio Gardner had a specially constructed easel with locking shutters since he refused to allow his sitters to see the work in progress. Gardner never travelled without this special easel. If he stayed in the house of his patron to do some portraits of him and his family he would even make it a condicio sine qua non to have his proper lockable workroom.
Gardner did not mix easily with his fellow artists, who viewed him as parsimonious, but he did form a close friendship with Joshua Reynolds and John Constable. Gardner portrayed Constable in 1796.
Daniel Gardner