Isaiah 1902

James Tissot made Isaiah out of watercolor, maybe sometime in the late 1800s. The colors feel quiet and a bit hazy like a memory, and the whole thing has a delicate feel. I can imagine him layering the paint slowly. Up close, you can see how the red in Isaiah's robes isn't just one flat color. Tissot used these tiny, soft brushstrokes, almost like he was dabbing the color on. Look at the way he painted the beard: it's not just white, but a mix of grays and blues, making it feel full and alive. There's something very tender about how he's rendered those fine details. It reminds me of how much time and attention it takes to really see something, to break it down into all its little parts. This careful approach reminds me a little of some of William Blake's watercolors. Both artists invite us to think about how process creates meaning, one careful mark at a time.