By Simone Vos

“Making illustrations is meditative for me; what I’m drawing develops on paper”

In Wobby #35 – Crappy Families shows the work of two international artists who were selected from the Open Call for illustrators, comic & visual artists. Zach Jansen (NL/ES) and Jo Ruessmann (DE) made new illustrations and comics for this edition of Wobby. “When I heard about the theme, I thought of my own family and how I was raised. What is typical for our culture? That’s what I explored in my illustrations”, says illustrator Zach Jansen.

“My illustrations are always made with my ballpoint. The BIC-pen is the best. I love to scrabble and scratch on paper, that’s what I always do”, says Zach. “I like drawing organic material, like skin and faces”, Zach explains. “The illustrations I made for Wobby #35 are not only a reflection of my own family, but it’s also more like a way of looking at the culture in the Netherlands. My last name, Jansen, is so familiar in the Netherlands. And my family is so big, like they had a dedication to reproducing. That’s why I drew so many faces in one illustration.”

For Jo Ruessmann, illustrator and comic artist, a surreal way of illustrating, even grotesque sometimes, is important. “But I’m never too serious about it. It’s mostly figurative. When I illustrate people and figures, they seem to wear a mask, like they are actors on their little stage. I really get inspired by mythology, medieval illustrations especially. You’ll see that in the perspective of my illustrations”, she states. “I love making both illustrations and comics. They both have storytelling in them, but comics are a closed-off glimpse into a world, in the sense that they give you all of the information you are going to get. Whereas illustrations can be narrative but are more open to text from outside of them.

“The comics I made for Wobby are about family constellations, about expectations from society and about your own choices in having a family or not”, she says. “I read a lot about the way people think in relation to temporality about reproduction, having kids and what the right order is to do things in your life. Of course, I thought of my own family, but in a way, I think all families are made up of several complicated individuals, but together and from the outside it’s like a very common way of living.”

Feedback is great
Jo has just finished her Master in Visual Communication at the Berlin University of Arts. In 2018 she graduated at the University of Edinburgh where she did the Bachelor in Illustration. “I feel like it’s very good that I did both studies. In Edinburgh I was much younger, but I wasn’t quite ready for the working life after that Bachelor. I’m glad I started my Master in Berlin, because it gave me time and space to explore my printmaking, screen-printing, and making books. It’s not so easy to have access to all these facilities when you’re not a student, so I’m glad I could do this. Besides that, I got to know so many great people and other artists. They keep you advised and it’s great to get feedback.”

Going to art school is something Zach was unsure about when he was younger. “I went to the ‘Vrije school’, which is very open-minded and all about creativity, but after that I didn’t know what to do. My friends who went to art school felt like illustrating was not fun anymore, because it became something they had to do. So I went to Amsterdam, the big city, to study Museology”, he states.

Travel the world
“Both of my parents are artists, and for a long time I was too proud to follow in their footsteps. They were very supportive about my illustrations, as I started drawing when I was very young. It has always been a way for me to relax, like a meditative thing. I carry my drawing book everywhere with me”, Zach tells. “But I also wanted to travel the world and see a lot of new places. So, after I graduated from Museology, I travelled and worked everywhere. Just recently, I realised that I really wanted to make illustrations for a living. It took me a while, but this is it. Sometimes I feel a little regret that I didn’t join art school, because of the techniques and theory that I miss now. But: I’m looking forward to learning new things.”

Art fairs and new stuff
For Jo, making new stuff and showing at art fairs is a very interesting thing to do. To keep herself up to date with the comics world, but also to make something new and share her work at the art fairs. She’s exhibiting at Wobby Wonderland and the Copenhagen Zine Fest. “Together with my companion Charlotte Hornung, we have this collective ‘Russelhorn’ and we sell our self-published zines and books at fairs. It’s great to go out together and meet artists, and the magic of self-making is great. I get a lot of inspiration there, all these creative people in one place.”

Wobby #35 – Crappy Families is available in our webshop