'Merel' (Suske en Wiske Weekblad #40, 30 September 1994).
Katrien van Schuylenbergh is a Belgian children's book writer, graphic designer and illustrator. Her designs for the theme parks of the Flemish children's TV production company Studio 100 are recognizable to many. Early in her career Van Schuylenbergh had a comic series, 'Oh Dierbaar Vlaanderen...' (1985), which ran in the student magazine Veto. Its scriptwriter was Pascal Lefèvre, future author of many essays and books about Belgian comics. In the mid-1990s, Van Schuylenbergh made a children's comic for Suske en Wiske Weekblad, 'Merel' (1994-1995).
Early life and influences
Katrien van Schuylenbergh was born in 1963 in Aalst, East Flanders, Belgium. She studied Functional Graphic Art at the Sint-Lucas School of Arts in Ghent. Among her graphic influences and favorite artists are Walt Disney, Hergé, Joost Swarte, Ever Meulen, Claire Bretécher, Art Spiegelman, Anne Keenan Higgins, Fiep Westendorp, Jacques Tardi, Olga Demidova, Rasaoul Azadani, Randall Casaer, Júlia Mesquita, Joris Vermassen, Tom Schamp, Jeroom, Kim Duchateau, Pieter de Poortere, Robert McGinnis, Stedho, Benjamin Lacombe, Terry Runyan, Eva Mouton and Massimiliano di Lauro. In 1990 Van Schuylenbergh became a teacher in graphic arts and illustration at the Sint-Lucas School of Arts in Ghent. She is proprietor of a graphic and printing agency.
'O Dierbaar Vlaanderen...' (Veto, 31 January 1985).
O Dierbaar Vlaanderen
Between 1984 and 1986 Van Schuylenbergh was part of the editorial board of the student magazine Veto, published in Leuven for the students of the local university. She drew cartoons and comics for each issue. Her longest-running series was 'O Dierbaar Vlaanderen...' (translation: "O Dear Flanders...", 1985), a weekly humorous comic strip. The script was written by fellow editor Pascal Lefèvre. Another artist who published in Veto around the same time was Evert Dierickx.
Strip Kan De Klere Krijgen
In 1988 Van Schuylenbergh was one of the winning participators in a comics contest organized by "De Bond van Grote en van Jonge Gezinnen". Her comic strip, 'Strip Kan De Klere Krijgen', earned her 30,000 Belgian Francs provided by the Generale Bank, and a publication, albeit very small, in the seasonal 1989 'Suske en Wiske' family book.
Merel
In 1994 and 1995 she drew four short comic stories about 'Merel', a girl devoted to the protection of animals. Two stories, 'En De Kat' and 'En De Hondenmand', were scripted by Corine Kisling. All stories were serialized in the comic weekly Suske en Wiske Weekblad.
'Merel' (Suske en Wiske Weekblad #14, 1995).
Children's book illustrator
General audiences are perhaps most familiar with Van Schuylenbergh as a children's book illustrator. She specializes in illustrating books for toddlers who are only just learning to read. Among her books have been titles such as Bart Demyttenaere's 'Toon Is Moe' (2002), Dirk Nielandt's 'Prinses Binnen Rent Naar Buiten' (2003), Saskia Reusens' 'De Wolkjesfabriek' (2002), Lies van Langenhoven's 'Het Rare Zakje' (2012), Inge Misschaert's 'Het Geheim van Lies' (2013), Gertrud Jetten's 'Jip de Mus' (2016), Wim Kets' 'Dans en Zwans Mee! 15 Nieuwe, Gekke Songs' (2016), Isabel Versteeg's 'Letterboek' en 'Telboek' (2017), Annemarie Bon's 'Pas Op Sis' (2018) en 'Ik Eet Je Op!' (2018), Marian van Gog's 'Klein Als Een Muis' and Marianne Witte's 'Poes Moos' series.
Graphic contributions
In 1988 Van Schuylenbergh illustrated the cover of the 7-inch single 'Droi Daugen' (1988) by the band D'lekenaaten Lekoeirekes. On 27 January 2011, she designed the Poetry poster for the literary festival Literaturelure, organized by the Aalsters Literair Bon(t)genootschap. The poster depicts a poem by Frank Pollet. She also designed artwork for the Studio 100 theme parks in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Book covers for Gertrud Jetten's 'JIp De Mus' and Marianne Witte's 'Poes Moos'.