Imagine being an artist with a floating studio. In 1857, Charles-François Daubigny purchased a 28-foot, flat-bottomed boat and converted it into a custom studio, named Le Botin (Little Box). For years, he spent the spring and summer months traveling in his studio boat along rivers north of Paris, sketching and painting directly from nature. Daubigny was also a skilled printmaker. These two etchings are from a series illustrating one of his boat trips. The title plate on the left shows a whimsical view of a wetland habitat, with frogs, lily pads, cattails, and insects. On the right is a self-portrait of Daubigny at work, painting the landscape visible through the boat’s window while surrounded by stacks of canvases, artist supplies, provisions, and kitchen equipment. By working from the moored boat, Daubigny could better observe the scenery and light at all times of day.