Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to Delphine Lebourgeois, a French illustrator living and working in the UK. Her free-spirited images show fellow women there is an amazon in all of us; Delphine’s creative quest lead her to leave her homeland and settle in London. Since then, she has enjoyed working for a variety of clients in publishing, editorial and advertising.

Valerie Pezeron: Hello Delphine, how long have you been in the UK for and what made you move across the channel to live with “Les Roast beefs”?

Delphine Lebourgeois: I came in summer 1998, just after graduating, and looking for a change of air. I only intended to stay a couple of months, which turned into 3 then 4… After 2 years, it became home and I still love London for everything it has to offer culturally and career-wise.

VP: You experienced the French and English higher education system. Tell us about studying an MA at Central St Martins and how the experience compares with studying arts in French universities?

DL: Both were very different experiences, socially and academically. I studied fine art in Lyon when I was just 20 and the school was very conceptual. Aesthetic seduction was a no-no!! Tutors used to stir us away from anything just purely visually pleasing, and as a result the ideas became more important than the form or the technical skills. Socially, however, my BA was a school of life. All students lived very close to each other, we were like an extended family, and therefore, we shared something very strong. At St Martins in London, the social experience was somehow different. A wider variety of students and less time spent together meant that most of us were really focusing on work and the challenges of an MA. A this time, I started to develop a visual language and a pictorial style to convey my ideas. It was important for me to marry beautiful images and concepts, and the MA gave me the opportunity to explore this.

VP: What about the UK illustration industry compared with France’s?

DL: I have worked within the UK market for 4 years now and in the last few months, I have had a small taste of the French industry through my agent Illustrissimo. My feeling is that both markets are very different. There seem to be more opportunities in England when it comes to editorial and general publishing, while it is the opposite in certain areas such as children book. The French market is much more adventurous and quirky when it comes to Children picture books. The rates are also overall a lot better in England (but it’s not too bad at the moment as the Euro is so strong!)

VP: Many illustrators point to their childhood as the key formative element that made them want to become an illustrator. Tell us about one significant moment that influenced the child drawer to dedicate her adult life to making pictures?

DL: When I was a child, I wanted to be an archeologist. The joy of digging mud and discovering treasures I guess! I wasn’t born with a pencil in my hand, and I only started to draw when I was a teenager. I remember well the day my parents offered me a box of pastels. Not a medium that I would use now, but I drew a cherry tree branch with those, and I still have it. My teenage years were of course very formative. I was writing a lot, creating stuff, building an identity and an imaginary world which would gradually lead to what I do now. I never decided to become an illustrator. I understood I was one at the age of 30, finally feeling happy about what I was doing!!

VP: You describe your illustrations as feminine, fun, quirky and delicate. Are there any female artists out there you keep an eye out for? Also, what would you say are your influences?

DL: I have just discovered the illustrations of Helen Builly and I think they are fantastic. There is also Zoe Mendelson, Petra Borner, Rachell Sumpter, Fernanda Cohen, Paula Scher, Nina Katchadourian and many men artists too: Marcel Dzama, Henry Darger, Jockum Nordstrom...and in a pure stylistic way, artists such as Ernst Haekel. There are also writers, photographers, film directors…However influenced I might be from other artists, most of my work comes from inside, from what I feel at a given time. I trap an emotion like a little wild animal and I dress him up in an image, I make him look beautiful (well, when I can!)

VP: Could you describe to us a typical day for you and your work process? Do you have a studio?

DL: I have invaded my whole living room and turned it into a studio bubble. It has big windows because light is so important, two big sofas, a desk with computers and bits of old paper flying all around. It is a bit like a space ship from where I operate and create my journeys. I have however no real drawing space. I do this on the floor, on the corner of the coffee table or on one of my daughter’s playmobil boxes. Not ideal, but I guess if I had wanted a clear wide table to draw on, I would have got it by now. I must be happy this way.

VP: It seems the main challenge for many artists is to develop business acumen. Do you have an agent and what advice would you give young talents trying to make it in this business?

DL: I have two agents, one in France and one here in the UK. What I would advise to young illustrators is to approach clients directly at first, in order to get a feel of the industry. It is important to go out with your portfolio and do the leg work. The AOI is also a good place to start. They offer a lot of support for new comers, and interesting events too. When you are a bit more settled, getting and agent is a good option, They will be able to get higher fees in general, and protect you against bad contracting and other problems that may arise.

VP: Illustrators promote themselves in a variety of ways- their mailer, the envelope and its content, the postcards, the tags, etc…are often personalised. How do you promote yourself?

DL: Regarding the way I promote myself, it is rather old fashioned: I grab my book and I visit people for most of it. I rarely send stuff out (apart from Christmas cards), and I regularly update clients with new work via email with jpgs. I find that for most of my clients (in publishing predominantly), a portfolio visit is really valuable.

VP: I really like “Untitled with Pink Clouds”. Tell us how this piece came about and what inspired you to create a show about amazons?

DP: “Amazons” came up when I realised that most of my images narrated a quest, a fight, a search. It is directly related to being a freelancer in London and the battle it represents. Each day is an adventure, with its losses and its victories. It’s a relentless lifestyle and I love it. I wanted to create portraits of imaginary women warriors, to explore this intimate fight. “Untitled with Pink Clouds” shows a woman with a strong, belligerent look, while in contrast, her hair is made of soft, pinky clouds. This could be the duality of the artist. Being able to nurture the dreaminess necessary to any creation, while in parallel, you need to be tough enough to survive materially in the real world.

Thank you Delphine! It was a pleasure discussing with a fellow French expat illustrator!

Written by Valerie Pezeron on Wednesday November 18th, 2009 6:30 pm

Tags:

art, children book author, commercial art, design, french, illustration, illustrator, interview, london, women

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