Margreet de Heer's Blog, page 17

From Flow to Low

Working on a creative project, like a comic book, can be a bumpy ride. With a bit of luck, you get in the “flow”. But what happens when the project is finished and the flow just ends…?

Another Book Presentation

Last Saturday my newest book was launched, the Dutch ‘Wetenschappen in Beeld’, a 192-page comic book about science. It is the third book in the series of which ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’ is the first (the second is about religion).

The presentation took place in comic store and gallery Lambiek in Amsterdam, and was framed by a mini-expo I organized with twelve fellow comic artists, who made amazing banners on the theme of ‘Comics and Science’.

Ten of the twelve huge banners of the mini...

Of Cats Past, Part Four

The nicest cat I ever lived with (apart maybe from Siamese Boris) was Bloem, a feisty, sociable, intelligent small black female who had all but literally clawed her way out of the garbage cans of Amsterdam as a kitten to set up home with me, in 1999.

In 2004 I drew her into a comic adventure for my (then) stepdaughter Ellen, on her ninth birthday. I called it The Riddle of Nineand later translated it into English, giving Bloem (which means “flower” in Dutch) the name Daisy.

You can read the ful...

Going Viral

A week ago a sleepy Dutch suburban town was shocked when thousands of “partygoers” invaded the streets, raiding shops and damaging private property. What had happened? A teenage girl had announced her Sweet Sixteenth on Facebook and forgot to make it an “invitation only” event. A friend of a friend decided it would be a good joke to invite all HIS (500) friends, urging them to invite more. Soon it became a ‘Project X’, after the movie in which a party totally spirals out of control.

Food for e...

Of Cats Past, Part Three

For seven years, I was the proud owner of four cats – or more accurately: I was proudly owned by four cats, which is quite an army.

They provided me with ample material for my daily webcomic in 2005-2006:

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Yes, I was a blonde once. And “mauw” is indeed Dutch for “meow”.

Another GiveAway for ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’

To celebrate the good reviews that have been coming in for ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’, I am giving away three signed copies on Goodreads.com. Click the picture below to enter:

Of Cats Past, Part Two

I’m going through my archives looking for comics I drew my cats in – and here’s one from 2003 featuring Tijger, a typical tabby: vibrant, affectionate, dominant and fierce.

(That’s me in the lower bit, consoling Johan. In 2003, I was a stepmother to three children and living in a small house with a garden.)

I experimented here with a non-linear flow of visuals, influenced by colleague Michiel van de Pol, who makes wonderfully free and wacky comics and cartoons. I still like the pace of this com...

Praise of Folly

Good reviews for ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’ keep coming in, and my head keeps swelling and swelling. A good moment to remind myself of philosopher Erasmus and his book ‘Praise of Folly’, in which he humorously argued the relativity of all things:

From ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’

Of Cats Past, Part One

I looked through my archive to see when I drew my first cat-comic – and it’s this one, from 1999, about my sweet albeit a bit grumpy Scottish kitty Djinn:

I’m pleasantly surprised with the way I drew Djinn, and I really like the dream-sequence. But I’m less enthusiastic about the way I drew myself, I was going for some funny abstract comic figure, but to me it now mostly reflects how I could not grasp my self-image in that period – both graphically and metaphysically.

This comic was originally...

Philosophical Cats

I like to write and draw about my own personal life – in fact, all of my comics have autobiographical elements in one way or another. I especially like to draw our cats, beautiful Siamese Boris and his dark sidekick Toto. They both appear in ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’. In fact, Boris’ dreaming sparks the chapter about what human consciousness is, compared to that of other animals.

From: ‘Philosophy: a Discovery in Comics’

After ten pages exploring different features that may define con...