Sketch of Fishing Boats - Watercolor by Elmer L. Ham
8.5" x 10" Sight Size
11" x 14" Framed
There is a quality about a sketch that I particularly enjoy. You get to see the artists thinking and focus as they work. What the artist finishes and what the artist leaves out is often telling.
To me, this study is one of light, shadow, and reflection. Note how the shading on the boats add depth and form. On the near boat, how the shadow and rust on the way below deck add form and substance. The shadows on the second boat on the fishing nets the shadows from the fishing nets on the small boat in between the larger boats.
Also, note the reflections in the foreground, they are not static. They are fluid and evoke the feeling of moving water. This is the result of years of observation. Whether or not this was done on location, I have no proof, but it is too close to the subject to have been done as an exercise or from a photograph.
The pencil lines for rigging again are not perfectly taut but as one would find on a working boat in harbor. The lines for the wharf also frame the composition nicely. If the wharf were added, it might well distract from the ships. This may have well been why the sketch was not completed - but there could also be a hundred other reasons. I do know, from the paintings I have in my possession, that Ham would often return to a subject to emphasize a different aspect of the painting or to tighten up the composition. Another plausible explanation of why this subject was not completed could have been that it had simply served its purpose for Ham and he kept it for further reference.
I decided to mat and frame this sketch. I'll replace the white mat with a colored mat to bring out more of the colors within the boats to tie everything together.
Sketch of Fishing Boats - Watercolor by Elmer L. Ham
8.5" x 10" Sight Size
11" x 14" Framed
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