Detail: Blotting technique

Occasionally, Homer abandoned his brushes and tools and manipulated watercolors directly with his fingers. In Prout’s Neck, Breaking Wave, for example, he used a rag wrapped over his finger (any stiff cloth or piece of chamois could have served the purpose), blotting the still-damp, dark-blue wash to create broken clouds over a violent sea. Distinctive, elongated oval shapes that indicate his manipulations appear throughout the lighter area at upper left.