The old ship, Williamstown 1915

Frederick McCubbin painted "The Old Ship, Williamstown" with oil on canvas using visible brushstrokes and a muted palette, which really speaks to me about the artist's process. There is an amazing amount of texture in this painting, isn’t there? Look closely at the surface; you can almost feel the roughness of the aged wood and the choppy water. The greys and browns create a hazy, almost dreamlike atmosphere. My eye is drawn to the way he's rendered the reflections in the water. It’s a scumble of whites, greys, and blues. That one area alone has so much energy, it vibrates! It makes me think about painting as a way of recording a moment in time and also about how the artist is feeling. This piece makes me think about other painters of light, like James Whistler. There’s a similar interest in capturing a mood and atmosphere rather than a detailed representation. Ultimately, art is a conversation across time. It’s about how we see and interpret the world around us.