Ptarmigan Calling in the Snow 1926

Archibald Thorburn made this watercolour painting, Ptarmigan Calling in the Snow, at some point in his career, and the light is, of course, amazing. The overall colour palette here is muted, a limited range of greys, whites, and browns that evokes the stark, snowy landscape. Looking closely, the texture is achieved through delicate layering and blending of washes. The paint application seems thin and transparent, allowing the white of the paper to shine through, creating a luminous effect. It feels like you could see every little feather, every little speckle of snow, like the artist had time to really *look*. The ptarmigan itself, with its speckled plumage and alert posture, commands our attention. The artist had to capture that tension and detail without making it look laboured. All painters working today are in debt to this kind of attention to detail. You could say, we are still in conversation with it.