Fred de Heij

In 1983, I graduated from the Rietveld Academy, Department of Illustration; I had taken painting as a minor. Immediately after finishing my studies, I started working as an illustrator, mainly on children’s books. I loved drawing, but unfortunately, I grew increasingly disillusioned with the stories. Books without any action—about, for example, a girl who’s depressed because her grandfather died—I just couldn’t come up with a fun illustration for them.

Around 1990, I returned to an old love: comics. I was able to work for the girls’ magazine *Tina*, and illustration was gradually replaced by comic drawing. For the comic work I couldn’t find a home for, I created the magazine *Filo*, which I had printed myself.

In 1998, I painted portraits of my children—my first paintings since my time at Rietveld. To get back into the swing of painting, I also created small still lifes: a bowl of apples, a few chestnuts. Nothing particularly special, but I became completely captivated by painting. A successful sales exhibition was held at the Kunstcentrum in Zaandam, and I decided to stop illustrating and drawing comics to focus entirely on painting. In addition to creating fantasy works, I continued to paint from life, including still lifes and models.

I was asked to contribute to a horror comic book. I’d never drawn horror comics before and saw this as a fun opportunity to give it a try. It turned into a three-page story. I realized just how much I actually enjoyed drawing comics and started working on a longer story. I drew quickly, sloppily—sometimes like a sketch. It became a booklet titled “A Nice Girl,” but I wasn’t satisfied with the impact it had. I thought a magazine would be a better fit for the kind of work I wanted to create. Fortunately, the publishing house Xtra was willing to go along with this idea: the magazine *Pulpman* was launched.

The comic magazine *Eppo* was relaunched, and I was asked to draw a war comic, *Haas*, written by Rob van Bavel. It was a fantastic assignment, which I gladly accepted.

I was also approached for some fun illustration assignments. So painting took a back seat again.

People often ask me what I actually am: an illustrator, a comic artist, or a painter. I can’t answer that question, and I don’t have to.