Calle Claus

Calle Claus ©   Calle Claus
Calle Claus, born 1971 in Braunschweig, studied German language and literature in Hannover and Illustration and Communication Design at the HAW Hamburg. Since 1999, he worked freelance as an illustrator, author, copywriter and translator, primarily in the fields of comics, children's and youth literature. He has published numerous comics with various publishers, like the graphic novel "White Line" (Verlag Edition 52) and "Dorle" (Zwerchfell Verlag). Since 1998, he has worked at various universities and art schools as a lecturer for drawing, character design and storytelling. He lives with his family in Hamburg.

... answers

For me, the difference between travel photography and travel drawing is...
"...Travel photographs, even those taken with the photographer’s ‘eye’, are nevertheless always objective and factual. Travel drawings, on the other hand, are images that first pass through the eye of the artist, then wander through his mind from where they make their way to the hand, which holds the pencil through which the drawings flow onto paper. This is also a long ‘journey’ and the original image of course undergoes considerable change in the course of the journey. The image is now viewed fully and completely from the perspective of the artist. Absolutely nothing ‘objective’ remains, at least not in my drawings."

When I draw...
"... I digest my impressions by passing them through a filter and then cast them in the form of a small story.  Fictional exaggeration is allowed (within limits!)."

Inspirations on my ‘travels’ have been, above all...
"... An outstanding example of painting with coloured ink, which I have developed for my travel drawings during the Comic-Transfer, has been the magnificent book De Liefhebbers by the Belgian graphic artist, Brecht Evens.  However, I do not believe that I have come close to the quality of his work."

I would like to travel...
"... I’ve never been to Asia – I would definitely like to go there! Generally speaking, places bustling with interesting people are the ones that interest me. In any case, it is the people that are always the most interesting; sights and landscapes are decorative background at best.

My reading for my next trip will include...
"... On my Comic-Transfer trips, I always had a novel with me that was set in the city I was visiting. I thought that was fitting and (I hoped) inspiring as travel reading. But then I never read the books, not even a single word. On my outward journey I was too excited, during my stay much too busy, on my return journey too euphoric and exhausted. All in all, not conducive to concentrating on literature. But good resolutions count…"

... surf further


... at Graphic Travelogues



Top