Cover art by Thijs Wessels for the 350th book in the 'Suske en Wiske' series (2019).
Thijs Wessels is a Hengelo-based Dutch live caricaturist, who since 2019 has additionally worked for Studio Vandersteen as digital inker of the Belgian comic series 'Suske en Wiske'.
Early years
Thijs Wessels was born in 1980 in Hardenberg, a city in the province of Overijssel. From early childhood, he showed an interest in drawing and comics, with the 'Suske en Wiske' series by Willy Vandersteen and Paul Geerts as his all-time favorite. Between 1997 and 2001, he studied Graphic Design at the Grafisch Lyceum Zwolle, and in his spare time had a job as handyman with a motorcycle shop in Hengelo. After graduation, Wessels spent two years working as graphic designer for the Vision Stylers agency, before becoming a full time caricaturist.
Caricatures by Thijs Wessels of Dutch novelist Harry Mulisch and media personality Johan Derksen.
Caricaturist
Operating under the name "Wessels Karikaturen" since 2006, Thijs Wessels creates live caricatures at conventions, parties and other events. In addition, he has made caricatures on commission from home, working from photographs mailed in by his clients. The artist's personal work, painted caricatures of celebrities and landscapes, has been for show and for sale in his own gallery/shop, Tussen Kunst en Karikatuur in Hengelo. Over the years, Wessels has won several prizes at international caricature festivals.
Studio Vandersteen
During a Belgian caricature convention in 2015, Wessels met Luc Morjaeu, at the time the lead artist of the classic 'Suske en Wiske' comic for Studio Vandersteen. After spending a week together, and admiring each other's work, the two men agreed to once collaborate on a project. Four years later, Wessels was hired by Standaard Uitgeverij as digital inker for the 'Suske en Wiske' series. Wessels' first work was for the 2019 episode 'De Nacht van de Narwal', for which he also provided the full art of the book cover illustration. Since then, Wessels has been the main clean-up artist, digital inker and additional colorist of 'Suske en Wiske', working under lead artist Morjaeu. When the latter retired and was succeeded by Wout Schoonis, Wessels continued to work with Morjaeu on special 'Suske en Wiske' projects, like new cover illustrations.
Comic strip by Thijs Wessels. A drug dealer tries to sell pills to a partygoer, informing him that they will make dance very wild, but is arrested and forced to chop wood as part of his community service. (The Dutch verb "hakken" ("to cut") can refer to literally chopping something off, but also a dance move associated with the 'gabber' subculture.)