Autobiographical comic for Nieuwe Garde magazine (2023).
Karin Blaauwijkel is a Dutch comic artist, mainly active in the small press scene with self-published autobiographical comics and zines like 'Shenanigans' (2016-2018) and 'Hourlies' (2017-2020). Starting in 2024, she found a more mainstream audience through drawing the comic strip 'ToedeLou!' for Tina magazine (2024) and as co-artist of the historical graphic novel 'Op Zoek naar Vrede, Jazzy & Bertha von Suttner' with Emma Ringelding (Syndikaat, 2024). She works under the banner "Blauwe Eikels Comics" (Blue Acorns Comics), a title inspired by her last name.
Early life
Karin Blaauwijkel was born in 1991 in Stadskanaal, and raised in Musselkanaal, both in the northern province of Groningen. She comes from a family with creative talents as her father enjoys music and woodworking, while her mother is into handicrafts like knitting, crocheting, and card-making. However, she was the only one of her family to further pursue artistic ambitions.
As a child and teenager, Blaauwijkel was deeply influenced by the manga series released by Kana at the time, such as 'Alice 19th' by Yuu Watase, 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' by Kazuki Takahashi, 'Dragon Ball' by Akira Toriyama and 'Say Hello to Black Jack' by Shūhō Satō. Later, she also discovered webcomics and graphic novels, which showed her there was more to comics than traditional European ones. As a teenager, she was a big fan of the webcomic 'The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal' by E.K. Weaver, for example. Over time, her interests shifted toward modern American and British comics and graphic novels, especially works published by First Second and Nobrow. Between 2010 and 2014, she studied Comic Design at the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Zwolle.
'Astra' (2021).
Small press comics
Following her graduation, Blaauwijkel has been active in the Dutch small press scene, self-publishing zines and regularly attending fairs and conventions. Since 2017, she has been attending events with fellow artist Sabrina Kooijmans under the joint name "KAAS Comics". As a comic creator, much of her work is autobiographical, and always with a humorous twist, as she enjoys exaggerating or creating absurd scenarios based on true events. As a cat owner, her work is also noted for the many cats that appear in her stories. Her humorous (semi-)autobiographical work has appeared in the 'Shenanigans' (2016-2018) and 'Hourlies' (2017-2020) series, as well as the comic zines Flight '1514' (2018) and 'Operatie Knipoog' (2023).
When writing non-autobiographical comics, for instance in the historical and fantasy genres, Blaauwijkel prefers feel-good and positive stories centered on women. A notable example is her historical feel-good comic 'Astra' (2021), a love story of two women in Ancient Greece.
Comic strip published in newspaper AD (2019). Translation: "Pff, I'm really not going to wear pink. Do I look like a 'girlish' girl? Pink is O.K., not really something for me. Oh, this one here is O.K. Maybe I should wear pink more often. Oops!".
Mainstream comics
In 2019, Blaauwijkel first appeared in a mainstream publication, when the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad printed her comic strip for International Women's Day. In the first half of 2024, she appeared in the girls' magazine Tina as artist of the bi-weekly 'ToedeLou!' gag strip, written by editor Tess Dumitru for the magazine's mail page. It starred a girl who always plays outside. The strip was cancelled after only six months, when Tina magazine was bought over by De Jonge Lezer, but the feature's writer remained with the original publisher, DPG.
'ToedeLou!' (Tina #31, 2024).
Also in 2024, Blaauwijkel was co-artist of the comic book 'Op Zoek naar Vrede, Jazzy & Bertha von Suttner', together with Emma Ringelding. Written by Anne Tabak in collaboration with Willem Ritstier, the book was a production of publisher Syndikaat and the educational foundation Stichting Denkroutes, as part of the international project "Vrede Verbeeld – Picturing Peace - Frieden vorgestellt". It tells the stories of the historical writer and pacifist Bertha von Suttner (1843-1914), drawn by Blaauwijkel, and the contemporary photographer Jazzy, drawn by Ringelberg, who is trying to find her own ideals in 21st century The Hague.
'Op Zoek Naar Vrede' (2024).
Graphic contributions
Between 2016 and 2019, Blaauwijkel has submitted comics to issues #8, #9 and #10 of the American all-girls comic anthology 'Dirty Diamonds', edited and published by Philadelphia comic creators Kelly Phillips and Claire Folkman. In the Netherlands, her artwork has been featured in the anthologies 'Black Hole' (2020) and 'KAF #1' (2022), produced by the KAF collective of Bob Op 't Land, Ruben Gringhuis and Coen Vosveld. Blaauwijkel also contributed one-page strips to the Dutch Dungeons & Dragons anthology 'Not a Mimic' (2023). In addition, her work has been featured in the 2022 'Nieuwe Garde' anthology with new Dutch comic talent.
Recognition
In 2014, Blaauwijkel was nominated for the ArtEZ Zwolle Academy Award, at the time she was the first Comic Design student to receive that honor. In 2018 and 2023, she won third and second prize, respectively, during drawing contests at the Kamper Stripspektakel festival, the latter for her 'Operatie Knipoog' comic. In 2024, her comic 'Astra' was winner of the Queer Zine Award.
Karin Blaauwijkel and her comic book persona (2023).