'Gijs en Gijsje' (2017). Gijs the dog is informed that his tree has been cut, because the 'City Wood Foundation' is looking for a new destination for the wood. They tell him that they could make the "ideal" toilet cabin for him, but it would take two years to make: "Two years keeping dry: I can't take it!!".
Bart van der Kraan is a Dutch cartoonist and comic artist, operating in Den Bosch under the Studio Bajo banner. Since the late 1980s, he has been creating comic and cartoon features for specialized and environmental magazines, local newspapers and other commerial clients. This has resulted in several long-running features, such as 'Jan Sandaal' in Brabants Dagblad and Maas & Noordkroniek (1990s), 'Ed Pallet' in rally magazine Start '84, 'Gijs en Gijsje' in Bossche Omroep (since the late 1990s) and 'Herman en Ed' for Nestas Communication (2009- ).
Early life and work
Bart van der Kraan was born in 1962 in Den Hoorn, an agricultural village in the province of South Holland. He attended the National Secondary Horticultural School in Utrecht, but dropped out in 1978. During the early 1980s, some of his comics were published in amateur comic magazines, such as Ernst Van Veenendaal's TNT.
'Het Flip Flop Effekt' (1988).
Environmental comics
Around 1988, Van der Kraan began collaborating with his wife Joop Reichenfeld, initially on ecologically themed comics. By commission of the environmental movement Aktie Strohalm, they created 'Het Flip Flop Effekt' (1988), a comic book about climate change, scripted by Van Arkel. For the environmental center De Grote Rivieren, they made the comic booklet 'Joep Voelt Nattigheid' (1988), about the state of the Dutch rivers. In addition, Van der Kraan produced cartoons for several environmental magazines. Since its start in 1988, Van der Kraan has been the regular cartoonist for Bliksum, the magazine of Stichting Delftse Natuurwacht (the Delft Nature Watch Foundation). His recurring characters in this magazine are Jasper and Jorien, who also starred in the self-published comic booklet 'De Bunker' (1988), in which the two youngsters campaign against the demolition of an old bunker that houses a bats population.
'Jasper en Jorien' (Bliksum, 2017). A pun-based misunderstanding about "spiders" and the verb "to spin" (both "spinnen" in Dutch).
Studio Bajo
In January 1989, Van der Kraan and Reichenfeld officially grouped their commercial art activities under the banner Studio Bajo. Initially based in Geldermalsen, but quickly relocated to Den Bosch, the studio has provided illustrations, cartoons and comic strips for a variety of clients, including specialized magazines and residents' magazines for housing corporations. Besides creation, Studio Bajo has provided additional services like graphic design for commercial publications and comic lettering (for the Belgian publisher Geknipt Papier). In addition, Van der Kraan has been for hire as a caricaturist, live cartoonist, and host of comic workshops. Over the years, Studio Bajo organized several comics contests and courses, establishing a prominent spot in the cultural scene in the province of North Brabant.
At the start, the couple ran the studio as a joint venture, with Van der Kraan doing the creative work and Reichenfeld handling the financial aspects. Since the mid-1990s, Van der Kraan has continued the cartooning and commercial activities, while Reichenfeld focused on her work in fine arts. Bart's brother Dirk van der Kraan has regularly collaborated with Studio Bajo on the coloring of strips and on animation projects. Since 2020, Bart van der Kraan has been combining his creative activities with an additional job as a certified gardener.
Besides his commissioned strips, Bajo's more personal comic creations have appeared in alternative comic magazines like Striptuur, Kartoen, Verknipt and Fresco (1989-1992). Still, Studio Bajo has largely operated out of the sight of the general comic reader, although they have managed to promote their activities with the release of annual reports on their commercial work, self-published comic booklets and regular updates in comic news publications like Stripschrift magazine and the Stripjaar annuals.
'Jan Sandaal'. Jan is angry with his test results and sabotages the teacher's locker, only to get locked in himself, on the final day before the holidays.
Comic and cartoon features
In addition to 'Jaspern en Jorien' in Bliksum, Van der Kraan has created several other comic features with a certain durability. In 1990, Studio Bajo was approached by the municipality of Woerden for a series of 26 gag strips dealing with vandalism. This resulted in the comic strip 'Jan Sandaal', about a recalcitrant yet endearing teenager. After having the initial gags printed in Woerdense courant, the feature was picked up by the weekly youth section of the regional newspaper Brabants Dagblad. When in the mid-1990s that section merged with the youth section of the Tilburg newspaper, 'Jan Sandaal' transferred to Maas & Noordkroniek, one of the neighborhood newspapers in Den Bosch. The early gags were written in collaboration with Dirk Jan van Harten.
'Ed Pallet' (Start '84 #11, 1993). Translation: "O.K., Johan, pull out your rally jacket! We're going to take a ride." - "Pull out?! B-but what do you mean?" - "Because you, gallant as you are, will make room for this lady here from the pallet plant in Rotterdam." - "That what one calls TRUE rivalry."
Between 1990 and 1993, Vaste Prik, the quarterly magazine of the sustainable technology center De Kleine Aarde in Boxtel ran Bajo's 'Greet-Geert' strip, about a boring bachelor (Geert) who begins dating with a chainsmoking driver (Greet). In 1992, Studio Bajo created the bi-weekly 'Ed Pallet' strip for the motor sport magazine Start '84. The main character was based on Eddy van den Hoorn, a rally driver and worker in the pallet industry in Putten. His adventures ran until well into the 21st century. Since the late 1990s, Studio Bajo has been creating the 'Gijs en Gijsje' strip about a boy and his dog, who always try to outdo each other. The feature ran for about two decades in Bossche Omroep, the free local paper of Den Bosch, and was in 2023 revived in Voedselbossen Magazine.
'Herman en Ed'. Translation: "Neighbor, it's beautiful weather. Shall we have a drink on the terrace at my place?" - "Top!" - "That afternoon...".
Among his commercial comic strip creations have been 'Harrie de Rebel' for the staff magazine of HAGO cleaning services (1990s), 'Ans en Jans' in Wereldzaken (the magazine of the fair trade shop chain Wereldwinkel), and 'Herman en Ed' (2009- ), a strip for Nestas Communicatie, published in residents' magazines from various housing corporations. During the 2000s, Bajo also created the 'Ivootje' cartoon feature in Maasstad, the free weekly newspaper from the Rijnmond region, as well as the 'Zeg!' cartoon series in the quarterly Ouderblad. In 2013, he created the 'Cootje' strip for Ouders & Coo Magazine, a magazine for parents.
Self-portrait.