A dragon in need of more scales, a creative workshop for children.

I had never conducted any workshops as an illustrator, until Noémie Monier from Baïka Magazine offered me to join her team, and to conceive a creative workshop for children aged 6-12 years old. I had always been curious about doing workshops, so I jumped at the chance right away! What a thrilling project it was!

I was asked to develop a creative workshop that would go in line with one of the magazine’s published issues, the 14th one. The latter had told the legend of the Wawel dragon that I had had the opportunity to illustrate. I was expected to create something revolving around dragons.

My main interest as an illustrator lies in colours and textures, so I thought about developing a workshop that would make the children discover a few technics and some of the art supplies used in the trade.

I set about re-painting the Wawel dragon in a different way than the one I had made for the magazine, and this time left the belly completely blank.

The workshop would consist in filling the belly of the dragon with scales. The children would have to imagine the different shapes, textures, and colours, of the scales, and make them either through painting, drawing, or sticking different scraps of paper etc.
In doing so, they would be able to experiment with watercolour pencils and water-soluble pastels, in addition to regular coloured pencils and water paint.

Here below you can see the empty stomach and colourful dragon :)

Colourful dragon, 2019.
Gouache, water-soluble pastel, and coloured pencil, on mixed media paper. About 22x30cm.

And yesterday was the big day to try out my workshop for the first time, with children in the flesh! The workshop was held during the Festival Vo-Vf, in Gif-sur-Yvette.

I had a jolly good time listening to the children’s imagination running wild, and drawing colourful scales with them. They got enthusiastic and very creative, as you can see below (the second photo from the left shows my humble contribution of dragon’s scales).

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(photos taken by the staff of the Festival Vo-Vf).

Voucher for an Ayurvedic massage.

I got asked by a private client to create a voucher for an Ayurvedic massage. She was planning to offer a massage session as a birthday gift to her friend, and wanted to hand her a personalized token (an object she would be able to keep as a souvenir afterwards) that would embody the birthday gift, rather than just telling her what the latter was.

You can see above the finished pencil drawing of the voucher (on the left), and a colour test I made in my sketchbook (on the right).
I did not colourize the finished pencil drawing; I used it instead as a basis for tracing onto another piece of paper, with a subtle light-coloured pencil.

Here is below the finished illustration that was offered as a voucher for an Ayurvedic massage:

Voucher for an Ayurvedic massage.
Commission for a private client, 2018.
Gouache and coloured pencil, on Bristol paper. A6 format.

Sunday Rest

Hello there my dearest readers! Today I would like to share with you one of my latest projects, another commission for a private client.

I was asked to portray two members of the client's family, her grand-mother and her mother, surrounded by their pets in a 'homey' atmosphere.

Thus, the illustration is entitled Sunday rest, as Sunday to my mind is the best day of the week to enjoy free time and rest at home with the ones you love.

And eat cake of course!

Commission for a private client, 2017.
Gouache, coloured pencil, pencil, and black ink, on watercolour paper. A4 format.

I must admit that I have never made so many sketches for a project of that size before. Usually when I set to make any illustration (one piece about 21x28cm, that is to say one piece about 8.27"x11.02") I already have a clear picture in my head, and I make one or two sketches and take a few notes to make sure that I will not forget anything while I am painting. But this time the approach to it needed to be different, as I had to integrate a lot of specific elements into an A4+ piece of paper. And as you see I am the kind of person who dwells a lot on details, not to mention the trifling ones... The risk here is to overload the illustration with too much information and make it illegible - ugly and a strain on the eyes. The sketching process helped me find the key spots where I could place each character - furry and not furry - so that all had their bit of paper on which to shine, stand out, without overshadowing the others. I did my best to find the right balance, and for the time being I am quite satisfied with my work - in the near future I might think otherwise...

At first my sketches had followed a different path from the last ones that were made. I had intended to draw the client's house - always looking for an opportunity to draw houses, obsessed as I am - with a view of the living room seen from the outside through wide windows. Eventually I had to give up that idea as it did not emphasize enough the occupants and the homey feeling. Furthermore, I remembered the size of the working surface which would have restrained me from being as meticulous as I wanted to be while remaining 'legible'. I had to depict an interior scene, and a living room seemed to be the most cosy place in a house.

You can see below a detail of the mother and the grand-mother (finished illustration).

The pets I was asked to paint were a curly black dog, two cats, and one guinea pig. I was used to dread drawing guinea pigs until they finally grew on me; the more the shape is simple the more I find it difficult to draw it properly. Making simple and very precise lines is so hard, but it's fun nonetheless!

Above: Guinea pig in progress, and detail of the finished illustration.

Above: Black cat with glasses in progress, and detail of the finished illustration.

Above: details of the finished illustration. A curly black dog, afternoon tea, and a second cat.

Virée Nocturne

Last month I was commissioned by a private client to paint her beloved pets. Before I proceed any further, let me tell you straight away - so that I do not hold out false hopes to you my dear readers - that unfortunately she does not own any dragon. Consequently, neither she nor I know where one can adopt them, sorry!

Now that the question is settled, I can get back to the subject : my last commission entitled Virée Nocturne (it means 'night-ride' in French).

Commission for a private client, 2017.
Black ink, gouache, and coloured pencil, on Canson art board. About 30x40cm.

If you have been following me on Instagram, you may have seen a few 'wip' pictures of that illustration.

I enjoyed that project immensely as I had full liberty, and plenty of time, to work on it! And I love painting people's pets :)

60th wedding anniversary

I was recently commissioned by private clients to make invitation and table place cards, on the occasion of their 60th wedding anniversary.

What a thrilling project it was! First because it is not everyday one meets a lovely couple who celebrate 60 years of marriage, and second because it led to my playing with symbols.

Here below is my illustration for the invitation cards:

Invitation card. Commission for private clients, 2015.
Watercolour on watercolour paper. A4 format.

And here below, is my illustration for the table place cards:

Invitation card. Commission for private clients, 2015.
Watercolour on watercolour paper. A6 format.

The background I painted for the table place cards was initially too bright, and prevented a clear perceptibility of the diamond.

So, I decided to change the background for a darker blue, and made the change on Photoshop. The names of the guests were written down on Photoshop as well.

Invitation card. Commission for private clients, 2015.
Background colour applied on Photoshop. Name written on Photoshop.
Watercolours on watercolour paper. A7 format print.

What is it with these birds? Well, they are Eurasian cranes; they are monogamous for life, and they are symbols of longevity and fidelity.

I also love drawing birds :)