A Norfolk Village 1915

James McBey etched this Norfolk village sometime in the early 20th century, probably using a copper plate. The mark making feels really intuitive and free, the kind you get when you’re just messing around in the studio seeing what happens. There's this great area on the left where the trees are. It's not about depicting every leaf, but more about suggesting the overall feel of a cluster of branches. See how he layers those lines, kind of scribbling them in? It's like he's chasing after the essence of the thing, not the thing itself. The texture is so alive! The lack of color forces you to look closer at the tones, the way the light and dark areas play off each other. It reminds me a bit of Whistler's etchings, that same interest in capturing a fleeting moment. Art's just one big conversation, right? Always building on what came before, always pushing in new directions. What's cool here is McBey doesn't give you all the answers – he leaves space for your own imagination to fill in the gaps.