Man met hoed en wandelstaf die een café binnentreedt 1869 - 1936

Theodorus Kerstel made this drawing of a man with a hat and walking stick entering a cafe, but I want to know what kind of pen or stylus he used! It looks like a caffeinated scribble made with a dry nib on thin paper. I can imagine Kerstel's hand moving quickly, capturing the fleeting scene with rapid strokes—the whole thing took mere seconds. Was it a regular haunt? Did he know the guy? Look at the way he suggests the interior with just a few lines. It's like he’s saying, "I don't need to tell you everything, you get the picture." The faces in the background are smudged, the perspective weird, but that adds to the charm. He wasn't trying to create a masterpiece; he was just riffing, like a visual jazz musician. And that’s what’s so cool about it—it feels spontaneous, alive, like a quick thought jotted down on a napkin. Artists are always in dialogue, aren't they, responding to what they see, feel, and remember? Each mark is a conversation, an echo of countless others.