Born in Mbombela, Wouter – or Ghost, as he is better known – may not have studied art formally, but that didn’t stop him from honing his skills, one pencil stroke at a time.
“I had art at school, but I really got into it when I picked up Christopher Hart’s How to Draw Cartoons for Comic Strips. That book was a game-changer for me,” he says. One of his earliest memories of drawing was a pencil sketch of a crying little girl, one of the moments when he realised he had something special.
Life, however, took him on quite the adventure before he fully embraced art as a career. From the Infantry School in Oudtshoorn to the Bourke’s Luck Dog Training Unit, Ghost’s early years were anything but conventional for an artist. His travels took him across Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Greece, and even Sweden, before he eventually returned home to Mbombela, reclaiming his old job at a printing company. But art kept calling to him.
“In my spare time, I started doing chalkboards for restaurants and murals for kids’ rooms. It was something I loved, and eventually, I decided to make it permanent.”
Fast-forward to today, and his portfolio includes illustrations for books like Tinkers Guide to the Wild, Blinktand van Bosveldparadys, Beautiful Colours, and even an Austrian title, Die Dschungel Detektive. His work has also graced the pages of Viva Afrikaans textbooks and numerous Macmillan Publishers’ titles.
For many artists, finding a unique style is a journey of trial and error. But for Ghost, drawing felt natural from the start. “Of course, practise makes perfect,” he adds. “When I started, I learned from library books and Mad Magazine, I still have a few of my favourites. Today, things are much easier with free YouTube tutorials and online courses.” While cartooning remains his first love, his artistic range extends beyond that, and he also does murals in acrylic and wildlife oil paintings when he’s not illustrating or sign-writing walls. “It keeps things interesting,” he laughs.
One of his most well-known projects is painting the beloved Lowveld icon, Old Joe. “The original stone was put up to honour Joe Barbas, who supervised the construction of Schoemanskloof’s first motorway in 1927,” explains Ghost, adding that 2025 marks 20 years of him giving Old Joe new ‘jackets’ with fresh paint jobs. “It’s always a fun trip to go and give Joe a makeover. Big shout-out to TRAC, who’ve become the official guardians and sponsors of Old Joe!”
Ghost doesn’t have a favourite medium, saying that each serves its own purpose. “Oils are great for canvas because they dry slowly, so I can make changes. Acrylic is perfect for murals because it dries quickly, and clients always want things done yesterday! Spray paint is great for graffiti, and I sometimes use soft pastels for chalkboards.” When it comes to success in art, he believes in two key things:
“For commercial art, listen to your clients and offer good service and advice. For cartoons, just have fun. And for painting on canvas, work the surface!”
Beyond personal success, Ghost sees art as an essential part of the world. “Art documents history, it makes bold statements, it even changes lives,” he says. “It’s everywhere in nature and always points us back to our Creator. If art is your passion, follow it! But be willing to work in different mediums and give clients what they want. Other than that, find your niche. Find the style you excel at and showcase it, on Facebook, Instagram, wherever you can. People love seeing creativity.”
Though art is his career, photography remains a beloved hobby of this intrepid artisan. “I like taking my own wildlife photos for paintings, and I enjoy capturing portraits of family and friends. My biggest photography accomplishment was winning Get It magazine’s ‘My Neighbourhood’ competition in 2018.”
When asked what inspires him, Ghost smiles. “I can give a quick answer or a spiritual one … People today do not really want to hear the spiritual one, but I am a child of God and everything I have, comes from him.” And with that, he picks up his brushes and continues to bring the world to life, one illustration at a time.
