THOMAS EAKINS

Over the landscape he had painted on his canvas, Eakins projected his selected photographic studies, one-by-one, to mark the positions and salient details of each figure or element of the composition. Oil sketches made on-site served as notes to indicate the original colors of every component. Toning glazes consolidated the whole into a thoroughly convincing scene of the awakening respect two children experienced before the quiet devotion of fishermen practicing their craft.