Pheasant 1933

Archibald Thorburn made this watercolour work of a Pheasant sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. I can almost feel what it was like for Thorburn making this picture. Imagine the dabbing of the brush, building up the colours one careful layer at a time. All those strokes! The painting feels built, like a little world the artist has made from scratch. Look at the iridescent blues and greens of the bird's neck, contrasting with the reds and oranges of its body. See how Thorburn suggests the texture of its feathers with tiny flecks of paint. You know, it takes time to make something like this. A lot of looking, thinking, and feeling. It makes you wonder, what was Thorburn hoping to capture in this image? Was it just about representing the bird accurately, or was there something more? A mood? A feeling? I feel like Thorburn is someone who is not just representing the world, but actively participating in it.