This remarkably detailed view of the edge of a wood with two small figures flanking a felled tree suggests that the pair has been working all day and that evening is approaching. In his watercolors and etchings, Farrer followed the principles of English art critic John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites, who aimed for verism (truth) above all in their work. Along with William Trost Richards and others, Farrer was a founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Truth in Art in 1863.