Temple of Jupiter, Evening 1913

Joseph Pennell made 'Temple of Jupiter, Evening' with drypoint, a printmaking technique using a sharp needle to scratch lines into a metal plate. The image emerges from the scratch marks in the plate, a dance between control and chance. I can imagine Pennell, standing there in the evening light, his eyes squinting to capture the mood. The temple looms up like a ruin, the darkness kind of creeping in from the edges. Look at the strokes forming the sky – they’re almost nervous, as if he’s trying to pin down a feeling more than a place. The thick, dark lines of the pillars suggest weight, time. There's something about the print's texture that mimics the feeling of decay. It reminds me that, as artists, we’re all just scribbling away, trying to hold onto something that's slipping through our fingers, whether it’s a feeling, a place, or just a fleeting moment of light. We work with what we have, and we go on making, inspired by the marks left by others.