Gerda Dendooven

Belgium

Gerda Dendooven is a multidisciplinary artist who graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent. As well as writing and illustrating books for children, she also writes plays, novels and newspaper columns, does various live performances, and teaches graphic design and illustration at the Saint-Luc Institute in Ghent.

In this post, Gerda talks about her creative process and shares illustrations from four of her books: ‘Stella, ster van de Zee’ (Stella, Star of the Sea), ‘Takkenkind’ (Branch-child), ‘Wintervuur’ (Winter Fire), and ‘De Gans en zijn broer’ (The Goose and his Brother).

Gerda Dendooven’s Wikipedia page

Gerda: I don’t like the word illustration. I prefer picture-maker.
I make pictures, images, a new world. Mostly on paper.

Illustrations from ‘Stella, ster van de Zee / Stella, Star of the Sea’. Published by Querido, Netherlands, 2016.

When I make a picture, I jump into another existence, one that I created myself. The people in my pictures are sometimes people I met. I hear them talk, I hear what they say, how they speak, with what voice, what relationship they have with each other.

I am a kind of vampire: I steal with my eyes and with my ears.

What I hear inspires me more for pictures than what I see. What I see inspires me often for writing.

Illustrations from ‘Takkenkind / Branch-child’. Published by Querido, Netherlands, 2012.

I make books for children and adults, but in all my work there are three parameters:

1. I think of my audience: mostly children.
2. I think of the ones who buy and read the books to children: parents, teachers…
3. I think of myself: the artist. I have to be happy with what I make!

If I miss one of these, I fail. It has to be in balance.

Illustrations from ‘Wintervuur / Winter Fire’. Written by Carl Norac and published by Lannoo, Belgium, 2017.

I always start with an idea: what would I like to write about and draw? I have to feel the need to make the book. Just making a book is not enough; it has to be urgent for me.

So I talk about parents, the relationship between children and parents, between man and wife. In nearly all of my books, I question myself: what is a good mother? I am a mother, so I question myself about that issue.

Anxiety is also a prominent theme in my work. Anxiety is a motor and a brake. It brings you further and it stops you. It is a strong power.

Illustrations from ‘De Gans en zijn broer / The Goose and his Brother’. Written by Bart Moeyaert and published by Querido, Netherlands, 2014.

I believe in the strength of children. I believe in the flexibility of children to solve a problem. Everything is already in the child; we just have to wait for the right moment for it to come out. So don’t hurry.

Humour and fantasy are also important in my books and pictures. Fantasy is wonderful, but it can create anxiety as well.

In my pictures I exaggerate some specific characteristics – the morphology of the body – because it fascinates me and makes me laugh! So sometimes I work in an expressionistic style because that shows better what I want to say in a picture.

I work with ink, pencil and collage because collage gives me the freedom to change a picture till the end. I have less stress.