Jos WM van der Meer was born in The Hague on April 15, 1947.

The first lessons in drawing and painting he received from his father, Maarten DJ van der Meer.

Between the age of 12 and 17, he was taught the basic techniques of drawing, water colour, pastel and oil on canvas from the painter Hendrik Raab in the Hague.

Apart from these more serious activities, he became a cartoonist; his cartoons have appeared in Mediator in the Netherlands Journal of Medicine, and a number of books [see: www.josvandermeer-cartoons.nl].

Since 1998, he has taken lessons in graphic art from Caroline Koenders in Nijmegen.