 He was a tall man, and had an aptitude for various arts.Until the age of fourteen he spent most of his time in the Dutch East Indies (ten years in all) and would return for brief visits throughout his life, maintaining a strong connection to the area.His schooling was varied; he was educated in different places in the Indies and the Netherlands, and briefly in Paris, and in the fall of 1914 he enrolled in the "Hogere Burgerschool" in The Hague, but soon left for the "Academie van Beeldende Kunsten", where he showed a great talent for portraits, later illustrating his own books.