Bullfinches 1908

Archibald Thorburn painted these bullfinches with watercolor in 1908. You know, when I look at this picture, I try to imagine what it was like to paint with watercolors back then, the delicate washes and the way the colors blend and bleed into each other. Thorburn clearly knew what he was doing. Look how he’s captured the softness of the birds' feathers, that powdery effect, against the sharpness of the branches. And the colors! Those soft grays and pinks give way to the vibrant orange breast of the lower bird. It’s as if Thorburn is saying: "I see you, little bird." It's like a conversation between the painter and his subject, a dance of observation and translation. I wonder what other artists he was looking at. I wonder what they were saying to each other back then. It’s all one big conversation, isn’t it?