Wapen met een vogel en een kasteel c. 1903 - 1904

Here at the Rijksmuseum is a drawing by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet titled 'Wapen met een vogel en een kasteel'. Look closely at the image: see how the pencil lines delicately render a crest featuring a bird and a castle. I wonder what it felt like for him to put pencil to paper and draft this. Was he nervous to get it just right? To capture this image in his mind? You can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the page, mapping out the contours of the bird and castle. Imagine the pressure and how each stroke carefully builds these elements into the heraldic emblem. It reminds me of the work of other artists who used drawing to plan their other works. But look more closely, and you begin to see it’s more than just a drawing, right? Each decision, each slight adjustment, it's all part of a larger conversation about form, symbol, and identity. As artists, we're all just trying to piece together the world in our own way, one line, one brushstroke at a time.