Originally close to his father in artistic style, he began to develop a remarkably fine, sketch-like use of the burin in the 1620s.
He also portrayed Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and other prominent members of Dutch society, such as Gerardus Vossius, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Piet Hein.
Van de Passe's own Hortus Floridus, published in 1614—1616, was a collection of 160 engravings depicting flowering plants.
[2] His Les vrais pourtraits de quelques unes des plus grandes dames da la chrestiente (1640)[note 1] contained two verses dedicated to his sister, the engraver Magdalena van de Passe, who had died two years earlier.
Van de Passe found little success as an engraver in Amsterdam and died in poverty.