They also formed his way of thinking about his time. It wasn't until Homer was older that he really came into his own as a painter. His handling of oil paint and watercolor was most masterful as seen by the powerful brush strokes of that time. He was at his best when he wasn't under the concerns for literary interpretation by viewers of his work. Not like he was doing engravings for Harper's, where their mass consumption called for the detail of some kind of dress or gown.
Some illustrators can really get into that - like an actor playing a role with great conviction.
Homer was never really able to pull that off in his illustrations, which have, 'it's just a job,' written all over them. Winslow Homer was much better off when left alone to do his painting. It's from that, younger artists can learn a real lesson from Homer. By studying his illustrations and paintings in retrospect you can see just what a hard worker and studious thinker he really was. It wasn't as if he was some kind of contractor.