Pintail, Teal And Wigeon, On The Seashore 1906

Archibald Thorburn made this watercolour called Pintail, Teal and Wigeon, On The Seashore sometime during his lifetime, right up to 1935. Look at the way the watercolor almost melts into the paper! He’s using a wet on wet technique, which means he’s applying the colours while the paper is still damp, allowing the pigments to flow and blend into one another, creating soft, diffused edges. This helps create a kind of hazy atmosphere, especially when you look at the background. Up close, you can see all these subtle variations in tone. Like, on the bird right in the foreground, see how he uses these tiny strokes of red and brown to give the feathers depth? It’s as if he’s almost building up these tiny textures, mimicking the real surface of the bird’s feathers. Thorburn's work reminds me a little of John James Audubon, who was another artist with a love for birds. But while Audubon was all about scientific accuracy, Thorburn seems more interested in capturing the mood and atmosphere of the natural world.