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At what age did you become interested in drawing?
I think I was 11 year old or so. At that age, I knew that drawing would change my existence and that it would become the primary way to express my ideas and my conception of life.
What other mediums have you used or keep using?
To mention just a few, I’ve tried many different mediums like pencils, ballpoint pens, pastels, acrylic, oil, watercolor, ecoline and ink, on paper or on canvas. I’ve also made some sculptures and I’m more into photography, painting and digital art now.
Tell us what those mediums offer you. What makes you want to work with them?
Each medium offers something particular. It’s also nice to mix them together to get unexpected results. I used to work only with simple tools, easily available. I’m now trying more and more to prepare my projects in advance and to make unusual combinations with the instruments I use (See my most recent work “Flesh and Acrylic”, for instance).
Before your series “Pencil Vs Camera”, what other forms of creativity have you tried?
I’ve done in the past other series that have had less impact than Pencil Vs Camera, like “Wild Animals Downtown”, “Chess Art”, “Digital Caricatures” and others. I never know how the public will react to my new works so I try not thinking too much about it. But when I see that people really don’t like something I’m doing, I just stop and start something else because I want to make art for people, not for me. I’m trying to make it understandable by everybody.
How did you get to the kind of art you are doing now ? What triggered it?
Pencil Vs Camera is a mishmash of my two favorite disciplines: drawing and photography, so this series came quite naturally. Before starting this project, I saw some artists merging a photo in a photo or a drawing in a drawing, but I had never seen a drawing in a photo. So I thought there was a perfect opportunity for me to bring something new and creative.
Which are your favourite themes and subjects?
In Pencil Vs Camera, the main themes and values I want to share are love, friendship and happiness. I like to focus on architecture, portraits, nature and animals (a bit of everything). This series mixes imagination and reality in a simple way with simple tools. The only boundary is my own perception of the world, my own imagination. I like playing with illusions, visual tricks and surrealism. Finally, my hand is always visible. I think it emphasizes the connection between the viewer and the action happening on the little piece of paper.
When you include people in your works, do you try to do it without them noticing, do you tell them or give them a hint of the situation, or it's not relevant?
When they are famous, there is usually no problem at all, because these people are used to see their personal image exploited, as long as it remains positive. When they are random people I meet in the street, it’s more delicate, I have to make sure we don’t recognize them too much. If we can identify their face, I have to ask them the permission to have their image potentially published in the entire world.
How do people react when they realize that you're drawing them or are asked to serve as models?
They are often surprised and intrigued but still very positive and willing to collaborate.
What's their reaction after seing the final result?
Most of the time, they are very happy with it.
When you decide to start one of your artworks, how do you plan your day?
I often find ideas before going out and starting a new project. I just decide a bit in advance where I’ll go and I do the sketch on the place where I’ll take the final picture. If needed, I do the drawing home, at my desk, more comfortably, and I come back later to the scenery where I intend to take the photo.
Do you have plans to make this kind of creative work with other mediums?
Good question. I might be doing “Pencil Vs Camera XXL”, which means that I might use some huge paper on wooden panel (several meters long) and ask several people to carry it in front of a nice landscape, then make a giant drawing on it and take a final picture…
What would you like to try next?
I just started a new project called “Flesh and Acrylic”, in which I paint abstract shapes with acrylic on a life model. I think this series has a big potential too, but it’s only the beginning.
I think I was 11 year old or so. At that age, I knew that drawing would change my existence and that it would become the primary way to express my ideas and my conception of life.
What other mediums have you used or keep using?
To mention just a few, I’ve tried many different mediums like pencils, ballpoint pens, pastels, acrylic, oil, watercolor, ecoline and ink, on paper or on canvas. I’ve also made some sculptures and I’m more into photography, painting and digital art now.
Tell us what those mediums offer you. What makes you want to work with them?
Each medium offers something particular. It’s also nice to mix them together to get unexpected results. I used to work only with simple tools, easily available. I’m now trying more and more to prepare my projects in advance and to make unusual combinations with the instruments I use (See my most recent work “Flesh and Acrylic”, for instance).
Before your series “Pencil Vs Camera”, what other forms of creativity have you tried?
I’ve done in the past other series that have had less impact than Pencil Vs Camera, like “Wild Animals Downtown”, “Chess Art”, “Digital Caricatures” and others. I never know how the public will react to my new works so I try not thinking too much about it. But when I see that people really don’t like something I’m doing, I just stop and start something else because I want to make art for people, not for me. I’m trying to make it understandable by everybody.
How did you get to the kind of art you are doing now ? What triggered it?
Pencil Vs Camera is a mishmash of my two favorite disciplines: drawing and photography, so this series came quite naturally. Before starting this project, I saw some artists merging a photo in a photo or a drawing in a drawing, but I had never seen a drawing in a photo. So I thought there was a perfect opportunity for me to bring something new and creative.
Which are your favourite themes and subjects?
In Pencil Vs Camera, the main themes and values I want to share are love, friendship and happiness. I like to focus on architecture, portraits, nature and animals (a bit of everything). This series mixes imagination and reality in a simple way with simple tools. The only boundary is my own perception of the world, my own imagination. I like playing with illusions, visual tricks and surrealism. Finally, my hand is always visible. I think it emphasizes the connection between the viewer and the action happening on the little piece of paper.
When you include people in your works, do you try to do it without them noticing, do you tell them or give them a hint of the situation, or it's not relevant?
When they are famous, there is usually no problem at all, because these people are used to see their personal image exploited, as long as it remains positive. When they are random people I meet in the street, it’s more delicate, I have to make sure we don’t recognize them too much. If we can identify their face, I have to ask them the permission to have their image potentially published in the entire world.
How do people react when they realize that you're drawing them or are asked to serve as models?
They are often surprised and intrigued but still very positive and willing to collaborate.
What's their reaction after seing the final result?
Most of the time, they are very happy with it.
When you decide to start one of your artworks, how do you plan your day?
I often find ideas before going out and starting a new project. I just decide a bit in advance where I’ll go and I do the sketch on the place where I’ll take the final picture. If needed, I do the drawing home, at my desk, more comfortably, and I come back later to the scenery where I intend to take the photo.
Do you have plans to make this kind of creative work with other mediums?
Good question. I might be doing “Pencil Vs Camera XXL”, which means that I might use some huge paper on wooden panel (several meters long) and ask several people to carry it in front of a nice landscape, then make a giant drawing on it and take a final picture…
What would you like to try next?
I just started a new project called “Flesh and Acrylic”, in which I paint abstract shapes with acrylic on a life model. I think this series has a big potential too, but it’s only the beginning.
(*) The Art Inquirer is a blog intending to be a source of information for artists and art lovers.
