Dan (26 years old) gives a touch of fantasy to De Nachtwacht: “Lang Jan was like this on paper, and I drew it a lot when I was a kid” | Instagram

The independent painter and elementary school teacher by profession often copied the works of old masters. In order to train as a painter, I have already copied many paintings. This time I thought it would be fun to give an effeling touch to a well-known painting.”

Van Gensten vacillated between Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s The Night Watch. “In the end I chose De Nachtwacht, because I was able to put so many Efteling characters into it.” A replica of Julius Rooijmans was used as an example, so he could work with such detail. “I’ve never seen the real Night Watch. Maybe now is the time,” he jokes.

Spread over the course of a few days, Van Genechten spends about twenty hours working on the “Fairytale Watch”. One form of Efteling was faster on paper than the other. “I was so excited about this project that I wanted to finish it as soon as possible. It took a while before Pardo and Izeltge Striki were among them due to the attitude of both people. On the other hand, Lang Gan was like that on paper, I drew it many times When I was a kid,” Efteling enthusiasts say.

Positive feedback flooded the young painter, one of Efteling’s original designers even sent him a message via Instagram. Van Gensten pondered what he would do with the Fairy Tale Clock. “Because the original work of an old educator, I don’t think it’s great to make money from it. So I’ll soon be putting Fairytale Watch online in various formats for free download and print.”