The Little Tree, Maine

Marin’s unique working process is already apparent in watercolors painted in Maine during his first summer there. Here he communicated his joy in topography and textures; the sense of airy sunshine is conjured by juxtapositions of warm and cool colors. Skipping the preliminary drawing in graphite, he used painted lines to describe contours and map out the relationship of forms. He worked slowly on a sheet of paper laid flat and allowed the pooled areas of pigment to dry thoroughly, preserving their clean edges to create a distinctly Japanist effect. This watercolor offers a portrait of a legendary weathered tree—a long-needled pitch pine—growing on a small island off West Point.