Two brushes belonging to Winslow Homer

In Prout’s Neck, Evening (figure b), Homer painted a calm sea by applying broad, flat washes of blue. Laying a flat wash is a fundamental technique for depicting sky and water in a landscape painting. British watercolorist Aaron Penley described the process thus: “The brush being well filled, but not too much so, with colour, begin at the top either to the left or right, and before exhausting the contents take a fresh supply, continuing to do so until the whole space is covered.” …