Adriaen Cornelisz. van der Salm was a schoolmaster and textile merchant as well as a marine painter working around the town of Delftshaven, near Rotterdam. He married Annetje Roelofs van de Veur in 1686 and that same year he began teaching in Schenderloo. By 1693 he was back in Delftshaven, but is was not until 1706 that he joined the Guild of St. Luke in Delft as a master drauhtsman; at the time pen painting was clearly regarded a a drawing rather than a painting skill. According to Wurzbach, van de Salm visited the Cape (although this is totally unconfirmed) and completed a number of paintings and engravings. Whaling subjects were of particular interest to Salm and these, along with his naval action scenes, are perhaps the most interesting of his works, altough rarer village scenes are also known. The art of grisaille or pen-and-ink painting was perfected in 17th-century Holland, and Willem van de Velde the Elder is probably the greatest exponent and probably the inventor of the technique. Most grisailles were drawn with a reed pen or brush on a ground prepared with East Indian ink. The ground was usually an oak panel, although canvas could also be used. The shading and tonal variations were produced in the way a letterpress or engraving would have been done, i.e. by cross-hatching and parallel strokes of pencil. This technique was particularly suitable for fine work and allowed a greater degree of detail. However, it leaves little room for error and requires patience and a steady hand. Museums where examples of the artist’s work can be found include London (British Museum, Greenwich Maritime Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum) and Maritime Museum Rotterdam.