Jeroen de Leijer is a Dutch cartoonist, best known as the creator of 'Eefje Wentelteefje'. He forms the Tilburg-based Studio De Leijer with Marjolein Schalk. De Leijer studied at the St. Joost art academy in Breda, and has been drawing the absurd comic strips of 'Eefje Wentelteefje' since 1988. The strip is about an eight-year-old girl with a surprisingly realistic view of life. One of Jeroen's career highlights was in 1995, when he won the Prijs van Breda voor Strips. 'Eefje Wentelteefje' has appeared in BN/de Stem, Zone 5300, Medisch Vandaag and Samsam, as well as in the newspapers Brabants Dagblad and AD. Book collections were released by De Harmonie. The character is also regularly used in campaigns for corporations and institutes, such as the municipality of Tilburg, railway company NS and telephone provider KPN.
Together with puppeteer Frans van der Meer, De Leijer tours through the Netherlands with the Eefje Wentelteefje Roadshow. Studio De Leijer made the seventeen-part 'Eefje Wentelteefje TV Show', that also featured the adventures of the little mouse Pierieliepiepielo, for the children's TV show 'Villa Achterwerk' by broadcasting company VPRO. The character also hosted a radio talk show for Omroep Brabant with Ferry van de Zaande. Some of the characters from the 'Eefje Wentelteefje' comic have had spin-off comics of their own. The little chicken 'Twido' appeared in Samsam Junior and the English-language Anorak Magazine, and the annoying kid 'Ragnar Pasbips' had his own strip in Brabants Dagblad.
He has also made comics of 'Radio Bergeijk' for the VPRO Gids, based on the radio show by Pieter Bouwman and George van Houts. Together with Gummbah and some other artists, he founded the Bond Tegen Humor (Alliance Against Humor), which publishes the magazine De Bedenkelijk Kijkende Grondeekhoorn. Studio De Leijer also makes comics for the free NCDO magazine OneWorld Magazine, the art and design magazine Origine, the literary magazine de Titaan, and cartoons for NRC Handelsblad and the site of the PON Institute. Studio De Leijer has made comics and illustrations for MEST Magazine, Univers, Kans (the magazine of the Salvation Army) and the publishing house Zwijsen, among other clients.
Studio De Leijer has further made independent video productions for festivals and projects, as well as TV shows and animations for broadcasting companies like VPRO and Omroep Brabant. Since 2015, De Leijer and Schalk self-publish the independent quarterly magazine Wobby. Jeroen de Leijer is also a teacher in graphic art with the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague, and he regularly performs as a live cartoonist.
