'F.C. Knudde naar 't WK' (2018).
Ray Nicholson is a Helmond-based Dutch comic artist and illustrator, best-known as a ghost artist for the comics of Toon van Driel ('F.C. Knudde', 'De Stamgasten') and for his illustrations for licensed products and magazines with Disney, Warner Bros and Sesame Street characters. Among his self-created series are the gag comics 'Familie Kijkgraag' (1984-1985), 'SV Zoo(i)' (1987-1988) and 'Dumpie en Dodo' (1989-1990).
Early life and career
Raymond Nicholson was born in 1952 in Helmond, a town in the southern Dutch province North Brabant, as the son of a British father and Dutch mother. During World War II, his father had served as a soldier in the Netherlands, and stuck around. Even though he was always drawing, Ray Nicholson was initially stuck in a boring daytime job with Delta Lloyd insurances. He began his career as a cartoonist in 1977 at the Micro company in Breda. Through this job, he saw his illustrations published in newspapers and magazines like De Stem, Mijn Geheim and Tussen de Rails. He later joined the publishing house De Vrijbuiter, part of the Audax concern, where he illustrated covers for comics and activity booklets with licensed characters. Over the years, he has drawn for such diverse characters and franchises as 'Vicky the Viking', 'Maya the Bee', 'Woody Woodpecker', 'Calimero', 'The Flintstones', 'Scooby Doo', 'Tom & Jerry', 'Heidi', 'Dr. Snuggles', 'Barbapapa', 'The Bluffers', 'The Pink Panther', 'Love Is...' and 'Looney Tunes'.
'Benjamin Blümchen'.
Assistance of Toon van Driel
Through De Vrijbuiter, Nicholson also became an assistant and ghost artist for comic artist Toon van Driel. In the early 1980s, Van Driel sold the rights of his popular soccer comic 'F.C. Knudde' to the publisher, and Nicholson became responsible for most of the artwork in the F.C. Knudde magazine (1981-1984). Nicholson also assisted Van Driel on his other comics, including 'De Stamgasten', 'De Kanjers' and the celebrity comic about Dutch comedian André van Duin for Veronica Magazine. Since 1988, Nicholson has been working through his own studio Nicholson Illustraties. He has continued to work with Van Driel in later years, most notably on the 'Knudde' album 'Knudde Naar 't WK!' (2018), which appeared at the occasion of the 2018 World Championships. While the lay-outs were done by Van Driel, Nicholson applied a more polished technique for the finished artwork. It was also the first 'F.C. Knudde' album that credited Nicholson on the cover.
Dommel/Cubitus story for the first issue of Dommel magazine (1989). In line with the popular animated TV adaptation of the comic, animated characters exclusive to the TV show (Miss Beatrix and Chérie) were given large roles in the comic.
Licensed comics and products
Ray Nicholson has worked extensively with licensed products. Since the 1990s, he is the regular cover illustrator for the German Disney publications such as Micky Maus and the pocket books. He has provided artwork to German comics based on the animated TV series 'Benjamin Blümchen' and to children's magazines and products related to characters from 'Daisy Explorer', 'Doctor Snuggles', Jim Henson's 'Sesame Street' and the 'Looney Tunes'. He was also a cover and comic artist for the bi-monthly magazine based on Dupa's Belgian comic series 'Cubitus' (Lombard, 1989), and worked anonymously on comics starring Hanna-Barbera's 'Tom & Jerry'. For Holco's girls' magazine Penny, he developed the gag strip about the black pony 'Rakker' (1987).
Nicholson has made illustration model sheets for characters from the TV shows 'Sesame Street' and 'De Fabeltjeskrant', and provided merchandising artwork for the Disney films 'The Lion King' (1994), 'Pocahontas' (1995), 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1996), 'Hercules' (1997) and 'Mulan' (1998). In later years, he also produced artwork for other Disney-acquired properties, such as 'Star Wars' and the Marvel Comics characters.
Cover illustrations for 'Tom & Jerry' and 'Micky Maus Magazine'.
Personal creations
For the gossip magazine Weekend, Ray Nicholson created the gag comic 'Familie Kijkgraag' (1984-1985). Prior to its publication, the comic was anounced as a new Toon van Driel strip, but he was only the writer. The published episodes were credited to "Nick Ray" and drawn by Ray Nicholson. Nicholson's funny animal humor series 'SV Zoo(i)' (1987-1988, created through the Fimla agency in Tilburg) and 'Dumpie en Dodo' (1989-1990) were made for Kuifje and Okki, respectively.
Artwork for merchandise
In the early 1990s, Nicholson made the cover illustrations for the 'Strip-Mix' comics compendiums published by the Bruna book stores. During that same decade, he began making greeting cards for companies like Cartesse (later Editor-Belgium). Since then, his greeting cards series 'Doodles', 'Penguins', 'Rocco', 'Sea Life' and 'Old Dutch' rank among his most lucrative graphic projects. He also provides artwork for calendars, stationary, children's books, coloring pages, toys, corporate communication, fashion, mugs, gifts and the puzzles for Ravensburger, Jumbo and Verkerke.
'S.V. Zooi'.