Small Point, Maine c. 1931

John Marin made this watercolor and charcoal drawing called "Small Point, Maine," and right away, you can see he's thinking about how to make a mark. The land in the foreground is made with these wispy, washy strokes of green and blue. There are even charcoal lines darting up, suggesting maybe blades of grass. Up above, the marks get a little bit more solid, with broad strokes of color hovering like clouds. There’s a great looseness that allows it to be about the place, but also about the act of painting, like the two things can’t be separated. Look at the horizontal lines near the top. They aren’t trying to depict the sky realistically. They're more like testing out different colors and textures, creating a sense of movement and atmosphere through their arrangement. It reminds me a little of Arthur Dove's playful landscapes, where abstraction and observation dance together. With Marin, it's all about feeling it out, one mark at a time.