'De Oude Meester'.
Sieger Zuidersma is a multidisciplinary artist from the Groningen region, who has worked as a cartoonist, illustrator animator, musician and, in later years, mostly as a painter. Starting in the 1980s, he has created many commissioned cartoons and comic strips for staff magazines and other clients. A more personal creation was 'De Oude Meester' (1994-2014), a gag strip inspired by his painter father. In addition, Zuiderma has been a regular scriptwriter for the Dutch Disney magazine Donald Duck, notably creating the character of Rik, a friend of Huey, Dewey and Louie who is in a wheelchair.
Early life and career
Sieger A. Zuidersma was born in Groningen in 1952, coincidentally the same year that the Dutch Donald Duck weekly was launched. As a child, he was an avid reader of the magazine, with which he would have a long association later in life. His father was the Groningen painter and graphic artist Arie Zuidersma (1925-2014), a member of the collective De Ploeg, known for his surrealist, abstract and figurative work. Like his father, Sieger Zuidersma became active as a painter, although he also explored other art forms.
Just out of high school, Sieger Zuidersma had his first job with an advertising firm, where he received some basic training in illustration. As an artist, he is however mostly self-taught, although he did take an evening course in art history. After spending the 1970s working for companies like DZM Marcread BV and Libra Design, Zuidersma became a self-employed cartoonist, illustrator and comic artist in 1982. As a comic artist, his main influences have been George Herriman, Morris and Ever Meulen.
Postcard with comic strip for Huisinga Produkties.
Commercial artist
Through his contacts in the advertising field, Zuidersma quickly acquired his first assignments. Later, he was represented by Hans Buying's Comic House agency. His illustrations have appeared on postcards for Huisinga Produkties and in school books published by Jacob Dijkstra, as well as educational books by publisher Kluitman, such as 'Het Allesboek over Uitvindingen' by Martijn Min (2006) and the 'Fantastische Feiten' series (2006-2008). Among his other clients have been KPN telecom, the University Medical Center Groningen and the Ministry of Defense. For every assignments, Zuidersma tried to fiend a fitting style and technique, resulting in a varied body of work.
In addition, he has assisted his friend John Croezen on several of his animation projects. As an inbetweener and animator, Zuidersma notably participated in the animated films 'Kroamschudd'n in Mariaparochie' (1988) and 'Macbeth' (1990), written and narrated by Dutch comedian Herman Finkers.
'Professor Kachelpoets'.
Comic strips
Since the 1980s, most of Zuidersma's comic strips were made for staff magazines and other commercial publications. Among his comic features were 'De Ondernemende Prof. Dr. Ir. T.N.O. de Vosch', a gag strip starring a fox for the research organization TNO, 'De Ontdekkingen van Professor Kachelpoets', about a professor and his assistant for Gasunie, and 'Het Schone Landleven', about a farmer and his son. When in 2005, the Dutch cartoonist Jesse van Muylwijck emigrated to Canada, Sieger Zuidersma began assisting him on his daily newspaper strip 'De Rechter'. During a period of five years, Zuidersma inked and colored the strips, and then sent them to the newspapers.
'De Oude Meester'. Translation: "Hey, hello doggie! Nice... nice dog. You can better have a dog as companion than a human. Animals at least are honest."
De Oude Meester
Perhaps Zuidersma's most personal creation is 'De Oude Meester', a comic strip about a painter. Inspired largely by his father, the strips are mostly funny, sometimes reflective, but always recognizable for people active in the arts. Between 1994 and 2001, the 'Oude Meester' strips ran in the local art magazine Kunstkrant. Between 1998 and 2008, new episodes appeared in the irregularly appearing regional comic magazine GR'NN, edited by Edmond Spierts (Vlerk). Since the death of his father in 2014, Sieger Zuidersma has put the series on hold, although some previously unpublished episodes appeared in Galeriekrant in the period 2016-2019.
'De Oude Meester'.
Disney comics
Between 1996 and 2020, Sieger Zuidersma was also a frequent scriptwriter for the Dutch Donald Duck weekly, first working for chief editor Thom Roep and then through Jos Beekman. Creating gag strips, short stories and an occasional longer adventure, Zuidersma has tackled many of the Disney characters. Besides the Duck family, he also scripted stories with the Big Bad Wolf, Br'er Rabbit, Mickey Mouse & Goofy and Hiawatha. A notable contribution by Sieger Zuidersma to the Dutch Disney universe is the character of Rik, a boy in a wheelchair, who becomes friends with Huey, Dewey and Louie. First appearing in Donald Duck #7 of 2016, the character was welcomed with much acclaim, and has appeared in many stories since, several of which written by Zuidersma.
First introduction of Rik in the script of Disney story H2012-132, sketched by Sieger Zuidersma. The final story was drawn by Daniel Pérez of Studio Comicup and published in Donald Duck #7, 2016.
Painter
In later years, Sieger Zuidersma has been mostly involved in painting, working mostly with acrylics. After the death of his father in 2014, Zuidersma and his wife Ingrid Fokkens transformed the family home in Zuidlaren into the Gallery SZing, where they exhibited their own paintings, as well as work by Arie Zuidersma and a host of other regional artists. After several years living in the city of Groningen, Zuidersma and his wife have relocated to the countryside, and are since 2022 based in Tripscompagnie.
Music
On the side, Sieger Zuidersma has also been active as a musician, playing the mouth organ and keyboard, and doing vocals. His projects have included putting letters of painter Vincent van Gogh to music, writing scores for orchestras and performing avant-garde improvisational music and poetry during vernissages of expositions.
VOIC
In 2001, Sieger Zuidersma was a founding member of the Verenigde Oost-Indische Inkt Compagnie (VOIC), along with Frans Le Roux, Marianne van Voorn, John Croezen and Nico Visscher. With its name a pun on the 17th century Dutch East-Indian Company (Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie/VOC) and India ink, the VOIC is a club for cartoonists, illustrators and other graphic artists from the northern Dutch provinces, and has about 120 members. For fifteen years, Zuidersma was the VOIC's chairman. In 2024, the association changed its name to INKT.PRO.
Sieger Zuidersma in 2018.