The Wood Sawyer 1906

Frederick McCubbin made this painting of a man sawing wood with oil paint. It's a scene soaked in greens and browns, full of motion and energy. I can imagine McCubbin outside, maybe even plein air painting, trying to capture the light as it filtered through the leaves, the dust motes dancing in the air. I wonder, when he mixed the ochre and umber for the forest floor, did he think about the other artists who'd wrestled with the same earthy tones? The wood sawyer is really going at it with a large saw - he is right in the middle of the composition. I can almost feel the push and pull of the saw, the sweat on his brow, the satisfying scent of freshly cut wood. Painting is a physical act, just like sawing, and I bet McCubbin felt that connection, the way the brush moved across the canvas mimicking the saw's teeth biting into the log. Ultimately, painting, like sawing, is about taking something raw and turning it into something new.