Bert Hooijer

The surrealist work of Bert Hooijer

When you look at Bert Hooijer's work and consider that he's only been honing his Photoshop skills for four years, you're likely to fall off your chair in amazement. His work is detailed, beautiful and magnificently surreal.

Introducing Bert

"To be totally honest, I haven't been familiar with the graphic design world for very long at all," says Bert. About four years ago, Bert was diagnosed with autism and then came across a company called Scauting. This company has a great approach because it mainly focuses on what people with autism can do. That's how he got into Photoshop. "I was hooked from the very first page in the textbook I opened. That was four years ago now, when I was forty. So, as you see, you're never too old to learn and to find something that speaks to you. At any age you can suddenly stumble across your passion when you least expect it."

  1. From shoe to house
    by Bert Hooijer

  1. A rainy night
    by Bert Hooijer

  1. Lost City
    by Bert Hooijer

Getting to work

Once he's come up with a solid plan, Bert gets to work. He then starts looking for all the details he needs to include. To begin with, he makes a base – some kind of background, for example the ground and the sky. "I'll adjust the colours at this point, so that it perfectly matches what I have in my head. Then I keep adding new elements, piece by piece, so that an entire work of art slowly starts to emerge."

Bert thinks it's important for an image to be realistic. According to him, the image should have such a realistic appearance that it looks real and like it's a genuine photograph. "Everything in it has to be just right," he begins. "And if it isn't, which happens sometimes, then I'll abruptly throw the whole project away. I'm actually never satisfied with the end result.

  1. Red Bull 2022 oilpaint
    by Bert Hooijer

  1. Lion family with 2 cubs
    by Bert Hooijer

  1. Wonderful world
    by Bert Hooijer

Favourite piece

His favourite piece is a double-exposure portrait of a woman. We see a lady looking to the left, watching the treetops, while lots of skyscrapers grow out of the side of her head. A really fun find. The cool thing about this piece is that you can hang it either horizontally or vertically. In the four years that Bert Hooijer has been active as a designer, a lot has changed in his life. He completely switched course and currently has his own company called Hooijer Media & Graphics. As a designer, he focuses on all the usual activities, such as printing and marketing. He also subtitles vlogs and films, and makes beautiful, unique bespoke pieces for both private individuals and companies.

Stylist Anouscka on Bert Hooijer's work: "He has a great imagination and knows exactly how to bring it to life. Placing these prints on shiny HD metal or acrylic glass brings out those layers even more and creates a fantastic sense of depth."

Curious to see all the works? Check out all the works of Bert Hooijer here!

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