How long have you been drawing?
I began in kindergarten. White skies with blue clouds. Later I made comic strips about Hendrik, a boy with a runny nose. When the Six-Million-Dollar Man appeared on television, I drew Sjaak, the seven-million-dollar boy. My drawings were also often illustrations for books that I made about dinosaurs or strange extraterrestrial beings. And I still have a stack of large drawings from that time on “The Lord of the Rings” by Tolkien.
When did you realise that you wanted to become an illustrator?
Just recently I suddenly realised that apparently I had become an illustrator.
Have you studied formally? What?
I took the teacher training study programme for drawing and handicrafts at the Windescheim Academy in Zwolle.
Who are your clients and how did they find you?
Most of them are publishers and companies. They find me through mailings, exhibitions, my Web site, via other clients, and such.
Clients often come back with new work.
How do you start a job and where do you seek inspiration?
That depends. Sometimes I do extensive research. But if it’s possible, I like to sketch out my ideas immediately. Any and everything can be a source of inspiration. I do not focus much on the latest trends.
In what media do you prefer to work?
Digitally; it is clean and fast. It also removes the worry about damaging or losing the original drawings. I also like to use the possibilities of 3D and photo processing. But if it fits in with the subject matter, I still like to show off my handiwork.
When is a drawing finished?
When you can do nothing to improve it.
What work have you been most satisfied with?
Fresh work that has just been finished. After time passes, I always begin to see the shortcomings.
What kind of project would you still like to tackle?
A project, which isn’t necessarily printed matter, with a sublime combination of text and detailed image on a highly imaginative theme that is exciting, exotic or perhaps historical. Or something similar dealing with prehistory or nature.
1] Jay Matternes: including illustrations of prehistoric people for National Geographic.
2] Alan Lee: including illustrations for Tolkien, Celtic myths and sages, etc.
3] Russ Manning: illustrator of Tarzan comic strips in the 1970s.
4] Holiday (trips) to countries where nature and originality can still be found.
portrait: Drawing underwater during a dive in Roatan, on the coast of Honduras.
translation: Ellen van Boggelen-Heutink
