Wyllie was born in London and, between 1884 and 1906, he lived on the Medway close to Chatham and Rochester. Here he was surrounded by the ordinary subjects of the working river which provided material for the pictures he exhibited at the Royal Academy, and which built his reputation. Thames barges frequently featured in these, as well as in his watercolours which were becoming increasingly fluid and atmospheric. In order to achieve these effects Wyllie worked on damp paper, as can be seen in the sea and the sky in this example.