Images, paintings and graphic design

Welcome to the "Images" section of André Kamer's website.

As far back as I can remember I've always been busy drawing things.
My first true inspirators were Rembrandt van Rijn and Walt Disney, joined later by M.C. Escher.
At the end of Elementary School (1974) my talent at drawing had become quite obvious, I was the best of my class. There was only one guy who could match my skills: Rijk-Willem Schmelter (albeit at another style of drawing}.
We became best friends in fifth grade and have remained so ever since.

My uncle Henk N. Kamer inspired me to want to become an Interior Decorator. So when I got to sixth grade, my path ahead was already pretty much laid out.
While at my next school (Gymnasium), I found a new inspirator: Don Lawrence (creator of "Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire" and "Storm").

When the movies "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" hit the theatres, their photoreal experence made me want to draw my own comic. I started out in December of 1980 and it took me until july of 1982 to finish the story (at page 46).

In 1981 I went to Delft to study Architecture at the Technical University and while there, expanded my list of inspirators yet again with the likes of Peter Elson, Chris Moore, Angus McKie, Tony Roberts, Tim White and Syd Mead.

I was extremely lucky to actually meet Don Lawrence in 1983 at the Comics Fare in Breda.
He singlehandedly changed my life by offering me the job of assistant (At the time Oberon was pushing him to take on an assistant in order to increase his production rate). Yet he totally understood that I chose to first complete the Architecture education, and he told me: "If you ever get fed up with it, come to me..."
We kept in contact and I was privileged to visit him in England the next year, together with my brother Oskar.

The job of assistant was twice given to English talents (in two consecutive years), after which Don decided to quit with the assistent idea altogether.
In the meantime I had done some courses in figure drawing, but Don was quick to realize that drawing people, animals and trees would always be my weak point. He soon advised me to shift my focus to the advertising business and, reluctantly, I did.

Over the years contact became less frequent (though I did revisit him, together with Rijk-Willem, in 1989) and I was sad to learn of his Cateract surgery gone wrong, and even more so of his passing away on Dec. 26th 2003.

After five years of free-lancing (from the beginning of 1988), I took a course in Desk Top Publishing in 1993 and managed to find a job at a small advertisement agency in Delft. In the summer of 1994 I took a job at the DTP-section of a high class Print shop (also in Delft) and in 1999 I left them to join my current employer (a Technical Communication Company in Soest), where I hold the position of Graphic Designer.

In my spare time I hardly draw or paint anymore, but I do enjoy digital designing, e.g.: CD-covers, 3D-animations and websites (like the one for the show garden "The Three Willows" ).

You can see some of my paintings in my Art Gallery (2D or 3D) and also at various pages in th "Music" section (CD-covers) and some other art-work and garphic design on the Graphic Design page.