The Dock Head 1905

Joseph Pennell made this print, "The Dock Head," with etching and drypoint techniques. It's all about the process, isn't it? You can almost feel him dragging the tool across the plate. Look how he uses these tiny, scratchy lines to build up the image, almost like he's knitting the scene together. The textures are great – the smooth water versus the rough, weathered wood of the docks. It’s a whole symphony of marks. The way he suggests light is interesting too. See how the sky seems heavy and brooding, achieved through the build-up of dark, dense lines, while the water reflects some light back. It feels like a Whistler nocturne, that same moodiness and fascination with industrial landscapes. It reminds us that artmaking is really about how we see and feel the world. Not about making a perfect picture.