Judith Vanistendael

Judith Vanistendael (born 21 August 1974, Leuven) is a Dutch-speaking Belgian comics author, illustrator, and teacher in comics art. She also worked for a time as a children's book illustrator.

Early life and education Judith Irene Vanistendael is the daughter of the Flemish poet-journalist Geert van Istendael. After her secondary studies, she attended an art school in Ghent, and spent a year at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin. Returning to Ghent, she resumed artistic studies for four years before continuing her studies in Seville, Spain. The storyline echoes a novel by Geert van Istendael, Bericht uit de burcht (News from the citadel), which expresses his dismay at his daughter's relationship with an undocumented man. without succeeding in protecting the women who are close to him from the effects of his agony:—"The disease is the tragedy of the patient, but also of those around him." The work, which is inspired by the death of Vanistendael's father-in-law, took two years to complete. The work was one of the five finalists for the critics' grand prize. She has been nominated for the Eisner Award on three occasions.

Based on a screenplay by Mark Bellido, Vanistendael drew and colored Salto - L'Histoire du marchand de bonbons qui disparut sous la pluie (Salto - The Story of the Candy Merchant Who Disappeared in the Rain) (2016), which features a candy seller turned bodyguard in Spain of the 1990s. The main character, Miquel, is a failed writer who sells candy to support his family and agrees to become a bodyguard for a politician threatened by ETA, which ends up destroying his life. Vanistendael uses several processes and formats, in particular the colored pencil. The story tells of the great friendship between two children from Brussels.

In 2019, inspired by the character of Penelope in the Odyssey, Vanistendael delivers Les Deux Vies de Pénélope, where a doctor mother engages in humanitarian work and distances herself from her family, especially her daughter. Vanistendael opted for a treatment with "watercolor stains". Vanistendael long wanted to describe the life of a woman who, due to an intense job, cannot invest herself with her daughter. Having read the work of Homer, Vanistendael was struck by the role of Penelope, who limits herself to keeping the hearth, while her husband has increasing adventures. For this work, she received the "Bulles d'Humanité" prize, awarded by the newspaper, L'Humanité.

In 2021, at the , Vanistendael won the with Zidrou for La Baleine-bibliothèque (Le Lombard).

Personal life Vanistendael has a daughter.

Awards and honours 2021, Prix Atomium, winner Prix Willy-Vandersteen with Zidrou, for La Baleine-bibliothèque (Le Lombard) 2015, nominated, Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2014, nominated, Eisner Award for Best Painter/Digital Artist 2014, nominated, Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material 2013, nominated, Outstanding Graphic Novel, Ignatz Awards 2007, Best comic (Dutch language), Prix Saint-Michel: De Maagd en de Neger, papa en Sofie, Uitgeverij De Harmonie - Oog & Blik