Cape Sunium (from Sketchbook) 1904

Mary Newbold Sargent made this tiny watercolour called 'Cape Sunium' in 1904, probably outside, in front of the real thing. It’s all about water, sea and sky, so it's kind of grey, but not drab. The tones vary a lot, from almost white to almost black, and that’s where all the juicy stuff lives, in those in-between shades, like wet sand. The way she’s layered the washes, you can feel the water. I love how the mountains are just these ghostly shapes on the horizon, done with so little paint, yet they manage to feel solid. And then there's the boat, this little triangle with a couple of masts, reflecting the light. You can see all the possibilities of the water and the weather, and how they change the way we see the world. Like Turner! Except small. And in a sketchbook. Anyway, you can see that Sargent was really looking, seeing how light and atmosphere can change a place completely.