The Source of Scaur differs from most watercolours in the collection of the V&A because although nature and natural processes are the subject of the work, they are also the means by which it was produced. Goldsworthy (born in 1956) made a snowball that incorporated crushed red stone from the River Scaur as well as other natural materials. These were placed on the paper at the top edge. The paper was then tilted very slightly, and as the snow melted the coloured pigment from the stone spread, staining the paper like a watercolour wash. The paper buckled as the snow melted, and this dictated the course of the pigment across the paper. This is one of a series of 'snowball drawings' that incorporate a variety of natural pigments, including earth, berries and blood.

Goldsworthy usually works in the countryside near his home in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. He constructs objects from anything he finds that inspires him. He uses no conventional tools and usually leaves his works in the environment from which they were born. For that reason Source of Scaur is unusual, as it was made, more conventionally, in a studio.