The Fishmarket, Aberdeen 1908

James McBey made this print, ‘The Fishmarket, Aberdeen,’ using etching, and you can really feel the process. It’s all about these short, deliberate lines that build up the scene. I love how McBey uses texture to describe everything from the wet, slippery ground to the bustling crowd in the background. See the reflection in the water, created with these tiny flicks of the etching tool? It almost shimmers. There’s a real sense of atmosphere, of the salty air and the sounds of the market. The people are just suggested, they're not fully formed which is something I play with in my own work. It puts me in mind of Whistler’s prints of London – the same kind of gritty realism, but with a real eye for beauty. It shows you that art is a conversation, an ongoing dialogue between artists across time. McBey takes that conversation somewhere new, with his own take on what it means to see and capture a moment.