A Child’s Garden of Verses 1905

Jessie Willcox Smith made this drawing with watercolor and charcoal, building up atmosphere with layers of transparent colour. The overall impression is quite soft. She's not going for photo-realism; the edges are a little blurry, like a happy memory. Smith’s got this great method, very intuitive, using these thin washes of color to build up form. You can see it in the way the children’s faces are modeled, these subtle shifts in tone. It’s almost like she’s painting with light. The colours themselves are muted, warm yellows and pinks, creating a feeling of gentle nostalgia. Look how she captures the folds in the fabric of the woman’s dress; you can feel the weight of the material. It reminds me a little of Bonnard, that same interest in domestic scenes, that same way of using color to evoke a mood. It’s art that lingers in your mind, suggesting rather than telling, and it invites you to bring your own experiences to it.