Blackbird 1928

Archibald Thorburn made this watercolour, Blackbird, in 1928. The painting’s got a real earthy palette, that kind of golden-brown that makes you think of autumn afternoons. I’m picturing Thorburn there, brush in hand, trying to catch the way light filters through the leaves. You can almost feel him tweaking the colours just so, getting the gleam on the blackbird's feathers right. That beak jutting down, is the business, right? I bet Thorburn wanted to show that bird was busy, hunting for something, and with that gesture he nailed it. It reminds me a little of Dürer, all that attention to detail. We can feel him seeing, thinking, working. I reckon we get to see with him for a moment too. Isn't that what painting is all about?