Bonsai seen through the eyes of illustrator Remco Bakker
Remco is a passionate illustrator and game artist from Dordrecht. After studying graphic design, he followed his creative heart to the Art Academy, where he specialized in illustration. He now works during the day at CoolGames, a vibrant gaming company in the heart of Amsterdam. There, he illustrates colourful worlds for computer and mobile games, and is often commissioned by big international names such as Hasbro, EA, Facebook, MSN, Snapchat and also Netflix.
Remco continues to be creative outside work, devoting himself to his many personal projects such as art and children’s books, T-shirts, 3D printed figures, stickers and imaginative character designs.
His work is cheerful, playful and sure to put a smile on your face. He draws much of his inspiration from nature, science and culture — a colourful mix that you can see again and again in his illustrations.
A bonsai hobby with roots in his childhood
Remco’s interest in bonsai started at a young age. At the age of fifteen, he bought his very first bonsai; a specimen from the local supermarket. Although this first tree unfortunately did not last long, the spark had ignited. Determined, he took courses at the Janssen Koopmans nursery in Grashoek and devoured every book on bonsai he could find.
He also followed the blogs of bonsai Masters such as Harry Harrington and Walter Pall fanatically online. That’s how he discovered that, as a beginner, you don’t necessarily have to buy an expensive tree, but that the city is full of hidden gems — urban yamadori! For a young bonsai enthusiast without too much of a budget, this was a revelation. Together with a friend, he collected trees from gardens and parks. And believe it or not: some of these trees are still in his garden, almost thirty years later.
Illustration meets bonsai
For years, Remco has been sharing his illustrations on Instagram. It was through that platform that he was approached by Michael Tran from Minoru Bonsai in Germany. They asked him to design a logo based on one of their characteristic trees. This project gave Remco an idea: why not combine his two great passions — bonsai and illustration?
He took the plunge and approached his bonsai heroes via social media with the proposal to illustrate their trees. To his surprise, many of his heroes responded enthusiastically leading to collaborations with Mauro Stemberger of Bonsai Dream, Carlos van der Vaart from Basics4u and Bonsai Club Deutschland, for whom he created a cheerful anniversary sticker set.
He is currently working on designs for Wigert’s Bonsai Nursery from Florida that’ll soon be available as T-shirts. And as a bonus, thanks to short lines via social media, there is always a bonsai Master available to give some advice!
Why not combine my two passions – bonsai and illustration?
The creative process
The bonsai portraits that Remco makes are all based on his client’s real trees. Everything starts with a thorough study of trunk and branch structure using photos. This is followed by a series of detailed black and white sketches, in which Remco searches for the essence of the tree. He then converts this basis into his recognizable style: clear, stylized and with a sense of character.
When the client is satisfied with the black and white composition, the further development of the illustration follows. Line work is refined, flat basic colours are added, followed by light and shadow effects, and finally subtle textures that bring the illustration to life. He creates all this work digitally on his iPad Pro, using the drawing app Procreate — a perfect combination of modern technology and craftsmanship.
