Delft blue painting is quite different from the very detailed pencil drawings that Redmer Hoekstra makes. It was quite a challenge for him to bring the two worlds together for Heinen Delfts Blauw, but the talented artist knew exactly what to do. His designing process starts with the question: what am I going to make? "My mind wanders and makes new connections between things that I see around me.” His creations always come from a philosophical view on the world. “Who am I? What is my reality and for how much do I decide how that reality looks like?" With these questions in mind, Redmer takes his fineliners to the paper and starts drawing.
“I enjoy working with a pen and paper immensely, because it is very direct. Every line that you put down, is down forever. It is not possible to keep working on it endlessly, like you can do with paint or digital drawing. This directness helps me to tame my own perfectionism and staying to the point. It is almost a craftmanship of its own. By shading I create light and space, which brings the drawing to life. I think it is important to keep the illustrations as realistic as possible, to enhance the alienation of the decoration.”
"Every line that you put down, is down forever. This directness helps me to tame my own perfectionism."
As soon as the illustration is ready, it moves on to the master painter of Heinen Delfts Blauw. In the design you find that typical Heinen products play a key part. "I have used Delft blue products as a starting point for my illustrations and I've built my world around them." The master painter at Heinen continues this design by adding a traditional Delft blue rim to the wall plates. When the design is complete they turn it into a digital file to print the transfers, which are then applied to the porcelain plate, they are covered with glazing and are fired in the oven. The result is a wonderfully humorous wall plate of the highest quality.
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