Children's stamps 1995: children's drawings, child and fantasy

Primary school pupils participated in a design competition for the 1995 children's stamp issue. This was prompted by the conclusion of the five-year Comenius Project, in which all primary schools were provided with computer equipment and software. To encourage the use of the equipment, a computer drawing and design competition was launched by SKN, PTT Post, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, and the Comenius Project as initiators (submission deadline September 7 – December 15, 1994). Three postage stamp computer drawings The aim of the drawing competition is to encourage teachers and students to work creatively with the computer. Each school was allowed to submit three drawings. From the more than 2800 entries, 30 computer drawings were selected. Three drawings were eventually released as children's postage stamps under the watchful and critical eye of Dick Bruna, and one was elevated to a greeting card by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. 1) Miss Carin Five-year-old Leonie Ensing from the 'Ganzerik School' in Westervoort looks bewildered and in awe at her greatly enlarged computer drawing 'This is my teacher'. Surprised and speechless, she clasps her hands together, about which teacher Carin Ketelaar excitedly notes: “Leonie drew me in a dress immediately after the instructions, quickly and briskly, with a relatively large red head with yellow fluttering decorations in the blue hair with a parting. Consider this drawing a variation on the 'head-and-legs' (a common drawn representation of a person by young children [the body and especially the legs are rudimentarily present].” My teacher is often angry with me, that is why the head is red. But fortunately, she isn't angry that often, said the classmates who accompanied Leonie at the presentation of the children's stamps. – “For the photo (later elevated to a maximum card), I put on a colored blouse and skirt matching Leonie’s stamp,” said Miss Carin. An enlarged image of Leonie’s drawing was tucked into the blouse pocket. – “My teacher is often angry with me, that is why my face is red. But fortunately, she isn’t angry that often,” said the classmates who accompanied Leonie at the stamp presentation. – “The ‘stamp affair’ was unforgettable for Leonie, the children in my class, and certainly for me too. I consider it a great honor to be immortalized on a stamp.” – The Netherlands has taken Miss Carin under its wing en masse. Philatelists place her in a stockbook or stamp album. For some, you stay there only temporarily; for others, forever. The specialized group of children’s stamp collectors never tire of you. – At the initiative of the Association of Dutch Carpet Manufacturers, the creations of the three prize winners were produced in the form of a high-pile rug measuring two by three meters. The specially crafted rugs (colored threads were manually woven into the pattern visible in the photo) were subsequently presented to the children by SKN as a special personal gift. 2) Children and colors Twelve-year-old Marcel Jansen from 'Park Stokhorst' primary school in Enschede depicts two children (with outstretched and drooping arms) in his computer drawing 'Children and Colors'—not only peers, but also three balloons (one still with a string) and a heart. With a cheerful splendor of colors referencing autumn, he expresses his feelings. The full size of the drawing is not shown on the children's stamp. 3) Dinosaurs Nine-year-old Sjoerd Stegeman from Groen van Prinsteren Primary School in Hengelo, with his computer drawing 'Dinosaur', is particularly interested in prehistoric animals. Sjoerd first made a pencil drawing of the animal and subsequently drew it freehand on the screen with the mouse button pressed down. Three small clouds in the blue sky accompany 'his' dinosaur in the green grass. 4) OC&W Anti-discrimination greeting card The designer is 12-year-old Adrie Mooi from the 'De Toermalijn' Public Jenaplan School in Tegelen. In half an hour, Adrie created a boy's and a girl's face on his computer (essentially identical except for the hair growth indication), which he divided into four sections. Each section was given a matching skin color: white, black, brown, and yellow: “White or black, boy or girl, everyone is equal. It doesn't matter who you are. I want nothing to do with discrimination.” The young computer enthusiast Adrie has already gained a tremendous amount of experience with drawing programs at home on his father's PC. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science was impressed by Adrie's positive approach to discrimination. The result? Printing of a special greeting card from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science! 5) children's stamp sheet 1995 The six children's stamps on the sheet have been placed, as it were, on a computer screen by graphic designer Julius Vermeulen. The layout of this screen refers to the MS/Windows computer operating system, which was used together with a drawing package by the young designers of the 1995 children's stamps. In this way, the drawings have reappeared on the computer screen. Thanks to the shadow effect, the face value with surcharge amount and currency indication appear to float in the space in front of the framed computer drawings. 6) Also children's drawings on children's stamps 1965, 1976 & 1988 Children's stamps 1965: girl, boat, stick figure, pond & tractor. Children's stamps 1976: footballer, boat, circus elephant & caravan. Children's stamps 1988: rain, competitive swimming & swimming challenge (child and water).