King Charles in Whitehall c. 1929

William Walcot made this print of King Charles in Whitehall, and honestly, it's all about the line. Look closely and you can see the confidence in each stroke, the way he suggests form and space with just a few marks. It’s like he's thinking on the plate, letting the image emerge through the act of making. What strikes me most is how Walcot uses the texture of the paper to his advantage. The ink catches on the surface, creating a kind of hazy atmosphere. If you look at the figures in the foreground, they’re barely there, just a flurry of lines, but they give you everything you need. And that building, looming in the background? It’s solid, grand, but also a little ghostly. That scratchy line implies a sense of history, a story etched into the very stones. It reminds me a little of Piranesi, all those ruins and grand visions. But Walcot has his own thing going on, a kind of quiet intensity. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfection, it’s about process.