GWL Graphisme 12/06/2010
 Gildas is one of the first people I met through MySpace and the first time I laid my eyes on his work was pure fascination! And since GWL Graphisme was the first feature in the EyeCandies Art Section, I thought it would be a nice idea to host an interview with my talented friend from France, celebrating our blog’s first year online! Are you ready to be amazed? ;) Welcome to EyeCandies Gildas! You were the first artist to be featured in the Art Section and I’m very happy to host your interview now – especially as we’re celebrating the blog’s first “birthday”. How did your creative journey begin? When and how did you realize that illustration was the main thing you’d go after? Hi Aphrodite! Thanks for this nice birthday invitation :) It’s very pleasant as I do remember well our first messages on MySpace few years ago. My creative journey began around the age of 10, with comic strips. This tool was perfect for my imagination. Then drawing, that first was just a way to tell stories, quickly became something more fascinating. As i was growing I became interested by the power of suggestion of a picture, the way it creates, in the viewer’s mind, a springboard to its own imagination; and in other ways, very personal emotions. I experienced other ways, like paintings and photography, but finally it’s the informatics tools that really feed my creation, allowing me to pass through my gaps, through the lack of time, to finally find my way in this big kitchen where I mix both drawings and pictures.  How would you describe your illustration style and what are the main themes that you are attracted to in your personal projects? Well I would maybe say organic and sensual, for its most part. I love the way the organic lives its life. Trees are fascinating, older-than-your-grand-parents’-grand-parents-lichens on a stone too, the amazingly precise pictures on the wings of butterflies, the changes of colours of a rock, as you pass it under water … there’re so many thousands of examples. Each inch of nature is a highly fascinating model, with many slices of readings. I do try to reproduce this type of structure, this “millefeuille-like” structure when it is a global image, and where if you give attention, you may discover plenty of details. Clouds are a great example of these visual tricks, or the bark of trees. Just watch it carefully, and then it shows you something else. I have this tree bark I found in Broceliande forest fifteen years ago, it’s 8 cm x 3 cm tall: I’ve found more then 15 humanoid faces on it!  I also try to choose the elements I mix, with attention, everything seems to be in its right place in nature, even in a chaotic wood, and that’s why it’s beautiful. I’m looking for some kind of harmonious alchemist work, even in a graphical chaos. In a way like a cooker does, I am trying to mix stuff that have something to do together and seem to fit within one another, or that could bring something alive. About your second question, I can hardly find a main theme … most of the time I’m just hooked by something, a picture, an atmosphere, a person, a shortcut of life, even a tune … and then I took my tools and try to design it my way. In your opinion, does Social Media and internet networking play a vital role in an artist’s promotion? What is your relationship with new technologies? A big yes. It’s a great way to ring at many doors. Regarding my experience, for the last 5 years, my MySpace page has brought me some of my best graphics deals. Think about it: you want to show your works to the world, just create a profile, get 50 famous friends, and post one picture on their wall, then you get hundreds of views in a day. Isn’t that super easy ? In a more professional way, some blog like yours are very respected spots where it’s a big honor to be seen; there are many website that are dedicated to online artist portfolio, add to this all the private blog or “Facebook” profile where people share their many daily discoveries …. It’s just too many ways to get your works promoted.  The illustrations you did for Dealer de Luxe magazine are quite eye-catching! Can you talk to us about this project? I’m glad you like them. The main theme of this edition was “Beauty”, and the concept was to bring my graphics on Paco Tyson’s pictures. We were looking for an original idea to image beauty and there was his great contortionist friend, so we decided to make the shooting with her. The result really inspired me.  Each picture had a kind of storyline, something like a suggested “Once upon a time” or “And then suddenly….” that really invited me to just go on, like a white strip, reserved for me.  So instead of “just” put graphics on it, I tried to fit the picture, to create a story that sounds real … more or less. It was a lot of fun. Inspirations. What draws your attention – where do you seek for inspiration – who are your favourite artists? As I told you, I find a lot of inspiration in Nature, my best muse ever. I also find a lot of poetry in abandoned places: where humans once lived, shared stories and lives, and then they’re gone and nature took back its rights. It can be a house, a building, a factory and even entire villages sometimes. I also have great interest in structures, entanglements of structures, could be branches, could be iron cables, Virginia creeper patiently intertwining a window. And, of course, humans too. Some people are really strong in just inspiring others: the way they are, their energy, their voices, of course the feelings you share for them, Muses :)  So most of the time I have my Lumix in my pocket and I shoot pictures of everything that catches my attention. Acting like this for years, I now have my own image bank with plenty of very personal stuff I wouldn’t find elsewhere. I also have a folder named “Ramshackle” on my Finder and I throw in it every cool stuff I find on the web. As you do have very good taste I sometimes pick up stuff in your selection of artists on EyeCandies J And last but not least, each season I go in a graphics shop and catch two or three books from Victionary or Gestalten editions. So when I need a push to start something, these books and pictures gleaned here and there are a good breathe, sometimes a nice starting point.  About my favorite artist …. Well I don’t have favorite artist, I mean, like I have favorite musicians for example. But I do check more regularly and with more curiosity the works of some gifted people like Jules Julien, Olaf Hajek, Noumeda, Shotopop, Never Effect, GrandPeople … many others …. What would you advice a new graphic designer who is taking his/her first steps in the market? And furthermore, what elements are mostly important for a good poster design? Hm, I’m not really good at advices … Maybe to be curious, open minded, organized, and of course to never forget Master Yoda’s words : “Try not. Do or do not, there is no try» Regarding the mostly important elements for a good poster, it’s like asking a cook the best way to make a good Vongole pasta ! There is obviously a guideline, like good balance between visual and typography, a clever choice of those two elements … but it’s quite uneasy to give a straight answer … I think graphic design is loaded with good surprises. Anyone is able to find a perfect match for a perfect poster. And this perfect match can be « a very precise and beautiful balance between all the elements » as « a weird and creative dissonance », everything is open, I think the best ingredient for a nice poster design, is talent, the good match between understanding the subject and creating a personal work.  Select and elaborate on one of your CD artworks OK I told you my favorite graphic deals came with MySpace, well this is the first one I had. Mud Flow – Ryunosuke  Working on a CD artwork, to get in the mood, I usually listen to the record in repeat mode. With Mud Flow I discovered all their tunes from their demo versions to the final ones, because I came onto the project at a time the record was not done yet, and that really was a great experience for me to see the way they work, what they keep, what they change etc etc. so we were both exchanging demo files and working to make a perfect final file. The atmosphere of the record is very dense, rich, dramatic and melancholic. It has this deep beauty of the millefeuille :) Moreover, the singer has a very smooth, charismatic voice. Ryunosuke is a Japanese writer, so they asked for a “japanese” touch that was suiting well with my black and white work around shapes and silhouettes. I chose warm colours covered with trashy patterns for the background : it was like a dirty yellow ochre sky -still lightning though- on which I create a big black and white organic shape. I built it like something growing, aerial and organic, poetic and a little scary, a floating island made of vegetal and architectural, that’s catching everything coming across, a fragile monster growing and feeding itself. I had a lot of fun spending hours, putting lots of very small details nobody would ever care about :) Use a link that express your mood right now: Which is your most challenging project this far and why? Challenging also means stimulating right? So it’s probably my projects with Berry Weight. Berry Weight is a very warm band, some kind of trip-hop, with a very personal touch and very clever choices of instruments and voices (you should try them :) We worked together for at least a big year and a half, creating all their imagery: logo, graphics for MySpace page, covers and booklet for E.P and L.P that never came out, background graphics for their huge show in the Olympia in 2007 (opening Wax Tailor), tee-shirt, web design for their first website … and finally, the artwork for their very beautiful first record : “Music for imaginary movies”.  That was huge and fascinating, first they wanted something sounding like my “mud flow” artwork, a patchwork of mood and shapes, we did very good jobs in these directions (unfortunately 75% has never come out), then it came out to be something more quiet, slow motion, light design, and ended up on a purified illustration of geographical illusion (?) On top of this, the guys are smart and demanding : it’s the best recipe ever to create big results. I really hope the second set is for soon.  And last but not least … please give us a preview of your future plans and feel free to add anything else! Well I have many nice projects coming out, but I prefer not to talk much about it ;) Thanks a lot Aphrodite for this time we shared, and congratulations again for your blog! LINKS: […] www.gwlgraphisme.com www.facebook.com/pages/GwlGraphisme/144975185533791 www.myspace.com/gwlgraphisme EMAIL: contact@gwlgraphisme.com  |
