Dick Heins
Profile Dick Heins
Dick Heins was born on September 29, 1959, in The Hague and grew up in Wassenaar. After living in Warmond, he later moved to Oosterhout, where he lives with his wife Cindy and stepson Danny.
Dick is a Dutch comic artist and illustrator, known for his humorous illustrations filled with funny details, lively scenes, and cheerful bustle. His love for comics and humor runs like a common thread throughout his work and is clearly reflected in the puzzles and illustrations he creates.
Besides drawing, Dick enjoys cooking, reading, and collecting comic books and comic figurines. Humor and creativity, in particular, play an important role in both his daily life and artistic style. Since 2013, Dick has been working as an illustrator at Studio Jan van Haasteren, contributing to new puzzles in the recognizable style of Jan van Haasteren.
Childhood and Education
After secondary school, Dick Heins attended a three-year graphic design program at the SDUB, the former State Printing and Publishing Company of the Netherlands. During this training, he was introduced to the work of Jan van Haasteren for the first time. The humor, details, and lively illustrations immediately made a strong impression on him.
Not long afterwards, Dick decided to contact Jan and asked if he could visit him sometime. A week later, he was sitting in Jan’s home, a moment he later described as one of the best days of his life. Jan showed him how he worked with Ecoline inks, how he prepared paper for coloring, and how his illustrations were built up step by step. That meeting became an important source of inspiration for Dick and played a significant role in his development as an illustrator.
Career
In 1978, Dick Heins received his first paid illustration assignment and officially began his career as an illustrator. Not long afterwards, he founded his own studio under the name Studio Dick Heins.
One of his first major assignments was creating comics for the puzzle magazine Bingo. For more than fifteen years, he produced new comics and illustrations for the magazine on a monthly basis. His humorous drawing style and eye for funny details quickly stood out, leading to many more assignments.
Dick later worked for well known magazines such as Bobo, Eppo, and Junior Suske en Wiske. In addition, he spent many years creating comics and illustrations for employee magazines for various companies. During this period, he continued to develop his recognizable style, filled with lively scenes, humor, and cheerful bustle.
Dick worked independently as an illustrator for many years and built a broad career within the Dutch comics and illustration world. His passion for comics, humor, and cartoon style illustrations always remained at the heart of his work.
Since 2018, Dick has also been creating puzzle illustrations for the popular Wasgij puzzle series by Jumbo Games.
Studio Jan van Haasteren
In 2013, Dick Heins was invited by Jan van Haasteren to join the new illustration team of Studio Jan van Haasteren alongside Rob Derks. Jan had known Dick for some time and had great confidence in his sense of humor, creativity, and drawing style. For Dick, the invitation marked a special moment, as he had admired Jan’s work for many years.
Within Studio Jan van Haasteren, Dick contributed to many well known puzzles in Jan van Haasteren’s recognizable style. The first puzzle illustrations that Dick created for the studio were Chaos on the Field, The Fair: Bumper Cars and Pulling Ropes, Chinese New Year, and Sea Port.
In the years that followed, Dick worked on even more popular puzzles, including Fata Morgana, Island Retreat, and Día de los Muertos. In his illustrations, he combines humorous details, lively scenes, and recognizable jokes with his own creative touch.
Dick also illustrated the special puzzle for the Dutch Games Factory (Puzzle Works) to celebrate the factory’s 75th anniversary, where Jan van Haasteren puzzles are produced.
Signature
Dick Heins finds inspiration for his puzzle illustrations everywhere. Funny situations in the street, encounters at comic fairs, everyday events, and conversations with Jan van Haasteren, Rob Derks, and Saskia regularly inspire new scenes and hidden jokes. According to Dick, humor often comes from small moments that others might not even notice.
Within Studio Jan van Haasteren, illustrators are given the freedom to add personal details and their own characters to the puzzles. Dick gladly makes use of this opportunity and includes several recognizable elements in his illustrations.
For example, his father regularly appears in the puzzles as a reference to his family and background. His good friend Maurice, recognizable by his wheelchair and assistance dog, also often appears somewhere among the busy scenes. In addition, Dick frequently includes a butterfly in his illustrations as a small reference to his wife Cindy, who loves butterflies. In this way, he gives each puzzle a small personal touch.
In interviews, Dick has also said that he finds it important to subtly incorporate his own humor and personality into the puzzles. Despite the recognizable Jan van Haasteren style, he tries to include small details in every illustration that are distinctly “Dick Heins.”
