Fintray, No.1 1911

James McBey made "Fintray, No.1" using etching, a process where a metal plate is treated with acid to create an image. You know, looking at this landscape, I imagine McBey standing right there by the water, squinting, trying to catch the exact feeling of the place. The sky's kind of scratched in, right? Not too fussy. And those trees—you can almost feel the wind rustling through them. There's a figure in there too. It's cool how he uses these tiny, tight marks to build up the trees. You can see the branches reaching out. He’s thinking about Monet, or Whistler, but making it his own. An etching has to be precise, and each line matters. It reminds me that art is just a conversation between artists, each one riffing off the others, just trying to make something new that feels true.