Grote paradijsvogel 1928

This watercolour sketch of a bird of paradise by Carel Adolph Lion Cachet feels like a glimpse into the artist's notebook. I'm picturing him, maybe on location, quickly capturing the bird's essence with washes of color and rapid lines. I can almost feel the urgency in the way he’s jotted down notes alongside the image – a mix of observation and memory. Look at the way he’s rendered the plumage with these loose strokes of yellow and brown – it's not about perfection, but about conveying the bird's vibrant energy. He’s really thinking through his mark making as observation and notation combined. I love the raw, unedited quality of the sketch—a direct connection to the artist's thought process. Painters learn from each other, across time, across place, across subject matter – and this little sketch reminds us that it's all a conversation.