One of my first drawings. I was 19, and probably needed help ;-)...
In keeping with that mood, I set out to illustrate Dante’s Inferno, taking the most horrendous scenes of his voyage in hell. All the characters presented have badly hurt people and are sentenced for eternity to undergo the pain they have inflicted during their lives. The latest one (the first I drew actually) represents Ugolino and Ruggieri. Both of them being traitors, they were placed in the lowest pit of hell. But because Ruggieri’s treason had caused Ugolino to starve to death in a dungeon with his sons and grandsons, Dante sentenced him to be eaten alive by his rival for eternity. In retrospect, it looks like I have a thing with reptiles.
A drama artist who intended to stage a play by Michel de Ghelderode commissioned me to design the posters for the event. No need to say, the producers refused the project... Much ado for nothing.
The first to serisouly trust my work were Editions Opta in Paris, I supplied cover and inside illustrations for Fiction, Galaxy and their luxury collection, Le Club du LIvre d’Anticipation, CLA. When I started I had absolutely no training at all, I built it all from scratch, and I must thank Michel Demuth, Opta director, for trusting me and giving me regular assignments through which I gradually became more professional. Incidentally, I found a website that actually documents the various Opta contributors.
That was a collection of French bawdy songs published by the Dentist Student Association in Paris. I made some fifty illustrations for them, most of which should remain invisible. But this one I enjoyed so much drawing I have to show it. Careful though, this is adult stuff!
Loneliness to the left, tenderness to the right. That probably illustrated my state of mind at the time. I could have done with some help, I realize in hindsight.
At the time I was drawing the Beauty and the Beast series, I think I was at the top of my potential. After seeing my cats playing I grabbed my brush and ink and made the one to the left in a few minutes. Same with those horses in a forest clearing, which I drew from memory on returning home. The protective male staring at us to the right, the mare and her colt. A lovely sight they were...