In early summer of 1911, before this sprightly sketch was painted, Forbes exhibited a large painting of The Old Pier Steps at the Royal Academy (no 40). It is a typical scene, set in Mousehole Harbour, with an old fisherman and a boy bringing a catch up some steps from their boat, with two women waiting. In the background, the boats in the harbour and their forest of masts are reflected in rainbow colours upon the rippled surface of water. To achieve these effects accurately, Forbes relied upon plein air oil sketches, which he painted quickly, straight onto canvas boards with no drawing; dabbing or stabbing colours on with a flat brush, which, he argued, allowed the artist to concentrate on the tone or emotion of the scene without getting bogged down in detail. Our ‘direct’ sketch achieves maximum description with minimum effort.