Ransdorp Church 1910

James McBey pulled this print of Ransdorp Church probably in the first half of the 20th century, and it's a symphony of scribbles. The image, rendered in drypoint, shows the church in the distance behind a cluster of trees and grasses that are activated by his mark making. I like to imagine McBey outside, in a field, with his plate and tools. How did he decide what to include and exclude? Which marks to make bold and which to leave light? Look at the area around the church tower, you can really feel how the network of lines creates a sense of depth and structure in the church and around the sky. Then closer to the foreground, the grass becomes more agitated, alive. Prints like this always remind me of other great printmakers like Whistler or Rembrandt, who also used etching techniques to make atmospheric landscapes. They're all in conversation, through time, about how to capture the world in ink.