Fernand Fernel (1872-1934), known as Fernel, was born Ferdinand Cerckel on June 25, 1865, in Brussels, Belgium and died on September 2, 1933, in Dinard, France. The Belgian painter, illustrator, and poster artist also signed his works F. Cerckel and Ferdinand.

Along with E. Charle Lucas , Armand Rassenfosse and Privat Livemont, Fernel is one of the pioneers of Belgian artistic posters.

Jules Chéret reproduced two of his creations in his magazine Les Maîtres de l'affiche (1895-1900).

In addition to being an accomplished painter, he was also a popular humorous illustrator, producing numerous postcards (including the collection of one hundred ) and coloring books.

His favorite themes are automobiles, aviation, sports and the circus world  ; he seems to have been very close to the Fratellini family .

He worked with the main Parisian lithographic printing houses such as Devambez , Chaix, Vercasson, Cerf and Lemercier.