John Wassenaar was born in Lisse on January 15, 1959. As a child his drawing talents already surfaced, but later his creations mainly arose behind the computer. He co-owned a graphic design company, but because of that, he only started to use the pencil sparsely.

Education
At the beginning of 2003 the turning point came and this graphic designer with a passion for illustration and photography started to focus much more on painting. His aim is to work less and paint more. He studied fine painting with Johan Scherft at the Art Academy of Leiden and, in addition to his work, paints hours a week in his studio.

Initially he worked with acrylic paint, but now he expresses himself best with oil paint. “In oil paint you can let it be real,” he explains that choice. John takes his subjects from everyday life; the nature and the nostalgic village atmosphere in the Bollenstreek attract his attention. He does not miss a single detail. He works very precisely and with an eye for light, dark and shadow effect. He determines his composition on the basis of photos, which has never been depicted in this way before. His work is recognizable, although the situations he paints do not exist in this format.

The artworks below by John Wassenaar are available at