Laying the Floor of Pedro Muguel Lock 1912

Joseph Pennell made this print, "Laying the Floor of Pedro Muguel Lock," with a lot of hatching and cross-hatching, like he was building up this huge scene one tiny little line at a time. It really shows you that artmaking is a process. The whole thing’s in black and white, but it feels like there's a lot of tone and texture going on. The lines are so close together in some parts that it gives the impression of shadow, and there's a sense of depth that isn’t quite literal but feels real. Look at the way the lines curve and twist in the top left to create that archway. You get a sense of the scene being active and of something being built. It reminds me a bit of Piranesi, you know, all those detailed architectural fantasies. But Pennell’s capturing something real, not imagined, which is amazing. It's like he's saying, "Hey, this is how we build the world, one mark at a time."