Jan Op De Beeck
Jan Op De Beeck;
 A Perfect Caricaturist
Interview by Irancartoon
Nikahang Kosar


Pavarotti

 Last year, I discovered a very good caricature website, and the owner was a caricaturist from Belgium.
 When I introduced him through Mehr  weekly, many of the readers called for his address.
 During the last few months, he has performed caricature competitions in his own site.
You can see caricatures of amateurs and professionals together on one subject.

chet

 Jan Op De Beeck lives in Belgium .Of course he speaks in Dutch.
 He says that he became a caricaturist because of something in his youth.
“ An uncle of mine used to draw small caricatures at family parties,

kevincoyne

and all the children did like him, because it was amusing.
Since then I haven't stopped drawing caricatures”.
 You can see his artworks, including his caricatures and drawings in his website.
 The fact that anyone visiting his site would say is that
he is a great artist, and he is a skillful draftsman.


Chirac Jacques

 Here is our interview with Jan Op De Beeck:

Who was your idol at the beginning of your career?
Did you imitate the style?
The first caricaturist I liked much was Mullatier, the Frenchman.
I imitated his style indeed. This style has evolved of course, and I
think that imitation is good school before you seek your own style.

Atkinson

Whom do you think is the best caricaturist in the world today?
The best caricaturist in the world today is Sebastian Krueger
(Germany). I met him in Portugal in June where we both gave master class
to Portuguese caricaturists. In September I met him again on his
exposition in Antwerp (Belgium). When you see his real works, they are
even better. He has a high variety of techniques, he can do anything!

Claushugo

Do you think that a political cartoonist must know how to draw caricature?
Sure, although a political cartoonist can turn a politician into a
small comic figure, which he uses again and again. If this is real
caricature, I don't know. It is more like comics, I think, with a
certain amount of reconcilability.


Einstein
 

Can drawing caricature be taught?
Sure! The problem although is that lots of people try to do
caricature before knowing how to draw portrait, and that's wrong. You
have to know how to draw exact, before you can start doing real
caricature drawing;
There are certain things you can learn about caricature (for example,
what are the things you have to analyze in a face, how can you deform,
etc....) When you start doing it, and you like doing it, you will be
getting better at it too.
It is a matter of habit too. I draw live caricature sessions too, and I
have experienced that, when you do it more frequently, it goes better,
because your eyes, and your mind, are still used to look at people in a
certain way (the caricature way).


Faraday

Do you draw cartoons for the press?
I have been drawing political cartoons for years, but now I don't do
that anymore. What I do now, is making books. I made two books on
Belgian politics, which are sold out, and there is a book in Dutch and
French on How to draw caricatures. Next year I will be making an English
didactical book too.


Fischer

Have you seen Iranian's caricatures?
I have seen some very good Iranian caricatures in my contest...
really good! On the website www.irancartoon.com
there is very good material too! I knew Iran had a great cartoon
tradition, but concerning caricatures I was very glad to discover that
there are several very skilled caricature artists too.

How many people check your site each month?
This month the number of single visitors will be over 5.000, which is
not bad for a site without any commercial influence.
There is a Top 100 in the US, and there I am ranked # 2.
Email: jan@opdebeeck.com
http://www.opdebeeck.com


Flaubert

BIOGRAPY
Born in Congo in 1958, moved into Belgium in 1960.
Obtained mastership in 1979 at Sint-Thomas in Brussels.
Started teaching arts in 1979 at the Coloma Institute in Mechelen.
Married in 1979 to Chris, the children are Lieven (1980),
 Katrijn (1982) and Pieter (1985).
Graduated in model drawing at the Royal Academy in Mechelen.
Made caricatures for several publications in Belgian press.
Won several awards in Belgium, France, Poland, Portugal, and Iran (2002).
Was elected in 2003 as 'World's Best Caricaturist'
by the Professional cartoonists in Iran.
Was invited in Saint-Just-Le-Martel,
Saint-Estève and Samer (France) several times.
Did masterclass with Sebastian Krueger in Seixal (Portugal) in June 2001.
Guest of honour in Ourense (Spain) and Dubai (UAE) in March 2002.
Guest speaker - with Sebastian Krueger -
during the NCN Convention in Orlando, Florida in January 2003.
Working visits at the studios of Alcis Szabo-Reiss (Germany), Superbi (Italy),
Krueger (Germany) and Turcios (Spain), spring 2003.
Guest artist in Porto (Portugal) in May 2003.
Working visits at the studios of Ismael Roldan
and Garrett Bender (USA, New York), October 2003.
Most important publications are three caricature books
Bekketrekkers uit Belgenland (1989) Glénat Ed. Brussels (exhausted)
Het Laatste Testament der Belgen (1993) Glénat Ed. Brussels (exhausted)
De Kunst van de Karikatuur (1996) Glénat Paris.
This book was published in Dutch and French and
was translated into Korean (2001) and Chinese (2002).

Fleming Alexander


Gandi


Geronimo


Ionesco


Jaggermick


karadzicradovan


Lamadalai


Marvinlee


Menchurigoberta


Milesdavis


Paisley

Pasteur


Putin