Dijkstra stresses that she has no drawing skills of her own. “I make collages. I even sketch using found images, which I then scan.” She likes working with old photographs – ‘these old pictures often have a really nice atmosphere’. She prefers making illustrations about subjects that are completely new to her. “I first try to find out everything I can about the subject, and then simplify it, based on my own take on the matter.” Working for EM was a bit daunting at first. “There’s no room for error. The articles are read by clever, educated people who are looking to find out more about a subject. Quite different from working for a women’s magazine, for example, where the illustrations mainly need to convey a specific mood.”
‘Media have become afraid’
EM illustrator Esther Dijkstra made an interpretation for the exhibition about cartoonists in Quod Novum, the predecessor of EM.
“I think it’s a pity that newspapers and magazines publish fewer satirical cartoons than they used to”, says illustrator Esther Dijkstra, one of the people behind the present exhibition. “Particularly when you see this exhibition: it includes so much exciting work that’s really pushing the limits. Today’s media channels are afraid to publish this kind of thing; illustrators don’t want the hassle and often throw in the towel. That’s why I created an illustrator who isn’t up to it anymore. With an empty sheet of paper.”