Art by Gaëlle Grizzly
It’s time for our next Featured Student! For March we are featuring:
Gaëlle Grizzly
Website: gaellegrizzly.wordpress.com
Instagram: @gaellegrizzly
Below is an awesome Q&A that Kathryn Adebayo (@KATHRYNADEBAYO) conducted with Gaëlle Grasély, aka Gaëlle Grizzly:
Here lies the tale, in her own words, of a writer and illustrator with a true love for stories. Gaëlle Grasély may have traveled through many valleys of self-exploration to arrive at the conclusion that she was meant to follow her life-long dream, but since then, she has been taking great strides up the slopes of progress. Hear about her idea for contributing to a rare book genre, her thoughts on social media, her advice and her goals in this heartfelt interview.
Hello! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hello. My name is Gaëlle Grasély, aka Gaëlle Grizzly (the legend says that I have bear DNA in my blood). When I was a child, I loved to create plays that I showed to my parents and to create novels (from 10 to 17 years old). We used to travel a lot (sometimes for fun and other times for work), and I had the chance to grow seeing the beauty of the world.
I have been drawing since I was a little child, but I never authorized myself to think about the sweet dream of being a full-time illustrator. I come from a very supportive family, but I was raised with the idea that secured jobs are more preferable for me than the other ones, which are more difficult and less reassuring. So, after my high school diploma, I spent my time studying to get a law degree for two years. Then, I did another year learning accountancy... But during this year, I had a strong feeling that I wasn't in the right place. I spent all my free time drawing, and I met an illustrator that encouraged me to get myself out there, and after two years of self-doubt and self-improvement, I created my company on the 1st of July, 2018. And here I am, nearly three years after that, trying to improve again and again, because this job helps me to understand that I need to be an eternal student to be happy.
What draws you to the world of illustration? Basically, why is it important for you to put art into the world?
I didn't think about it when I was younger, but now that I'm more mature, I realize that I want to put art into the world because I want to make it possible for anyone to see the world's beauty and to feel good about it. It means a lot to me when I manage to put a smile on one's face, and to give the opportunity to see the world from a different angle. It's important for me to give to my fellow being images that will lighten, just a little bit, their day.
On the other side, I harbor the hope of promoting a type of book quite unknown in France, as long as a novel, but as illustrated as a children’s illustrated book... In my home country there's a void between children's books and novels for adults. There are of course graphic novels, but, as an adult, I'm kinda sad not being able to read good novels with beautiful illustrations, playing along the text, like when I was a child. And I'm sure I'm not alone craving for grown-up illustrated books.
Could we see some of your favorite pieces to date?
"Lucette's amazing adventures", front cover of an illustrated book for teenagers and young adults, published by Crapaud Sucre. This project was requested by an association who wanted to promote a French castle.
"The pencil king", future main character of a children’s/young adult/older children's book, narrating many adventures in Bookland.
"The fox", a personal research for a new postcard set.
"The princess and the knight", front cover of a fanzine promoting that sometimes princesses can beat down (with grace and kindness) the most armored strong man.
"Yggdygg", inside illustration of a teenager's novel, published by Vert Pomme. This little guy was Yggdrasil's guardian, gone on a crazy adventure to defeat the Evil forces.
Art by Gaëlle Grizzly
Art by Gaëlle Grizzly
Art by Gaëlle Grizzly
Art by Gaëlle Grizzly
Art by Gaëlle Grizzly
Was there a particular moment when you knew you would be an artist? Or did you come to a gradual understanding of yourself? Could you share the story?
I think I always wanted to do something related to art without thinking of "being an artist"... I didn't think much about it when I wrote my first novel at 12 (I laugh again and again when I read it now!), and three more 180 page novels from 14 years old to 18 years old... I always drew, but at first, I thought that "artist" was a word meaning "somebody who's paid for making art". I was told that illustrators don’t get paid well (that's kinda true for the seven first years), so I built myself around this idea that I couldn't be "an artist" (a paid one)... But I gradually realized that everyone can be an artist, as long as it means something to you to create art, even the smallest one. And so, I began my journey as an artist as soon as I understood that.
What’s the most important thing anyone has ever done to help you grow as an illustrator?
I'm not sure that I can pick the most important thing that anyone has ever done to help me grow as an illustrator... This journey is so long and so sprinkled by little help along the way, building slowly who you are as an illustrator...
The most important thing could be when my dad drew with me when I was a child, on a Greek island, giving me tips and encouraging me to discover who I was as a young artist. It could also be when my mum showed me, by doing an art exposition of her painting in a beautiful gallery, that it was possible to be an artist. Or maybe, the most important thing was the 4 handed story that we created with my brother, when we were teenagers, helping me understand that I may have something to give to the world.
Or can we say that the most important thing to help me start growing as an illustrator was the little advice from a published comic book artist: "You can do it, you know? It'll take time, sweat and tears, but YOU can do it"... even though he didn't know how his little sentence, that he probably said off-handedly, was an absolute revelation for me.
It could also be when my first publisher believed in me and gave me the opportunity to grow on small and bigger projects...
I'm deeply convinced that every moment in an artist's life matters so much, from the smile of a client to the chance to work on an amazing project.
What has been the most helpful art-related discovery you’ve made recently? (Maybe a book, another artist, an online resource, a new technique, etc.)
It's a tough question, every art-related discovery helps us to grow and is "the most helpful" for one particular moment... If I may, I want to put in this section a great advice and a great illustrator/book, because they were both the most helpful recently.
Few days ago, I was blown away by something quite obvious, told by Will Terry in the "painting with color and light" courses: "If you have a light, it should be next to a dark"... Contrast is one of the keys for great illustrations! It seems self-evident, but I tend to forget it a lot when I do my value sketch...
Few months ago, I discovered a wonderful book and a marvelous artist: Jordi Lafebre, with his graphic novel "Malgré tout" (https://jordilafebre.format.com/malgre-tout). It's such a virtuoso, combining the love of shapes with a gentle and delicate sense of colors... His story is so well written and so originally presented that I quiver all the book long.
How has social media influenced your career? For instance, what about it has it been helpful or unhelpful? Has it been worth your time?
Social media ruled my career, once, but after one fully committed year, posting every day on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Vero (but I stopped quickly, seeing how much time I spent on that without any result), I finally turned my back on social media... For me, it was unhelpful because I thought I could reach people and create a community around my art, but I didn't.
On second thought, establishing a network is not about creating everyday content, but more about connecting emotionally with fellow beings. I didn't understand that at the time and even though I was trying to reach people's hearts, my everyday dragon wasn't enough (not good enough, not storytelling enough...). For me, it was highly time consuming (20 minutes to 1 hour a day, to post something and to comment back), and not worth my time during this one year.
However, it was a good lesson about how algorithms work and how you can manage to fail your communication toward your audience, despite the fact that you're full of goodwill.
Finally, what are you hoping to accomplish in the next five years as an illustrator, and in what ways are you hoping to achieve those goals?
That's a very important question to ask yourself when you're an illustrator. To set a course. To avoid the loss of so many months/years investing time into projects that will lead you nowhere. Thanks Kathryn for allowing me to express my thoughts on that subject.
In the next five years, I'm hoping to create as many books as I can, finding authors that I like to work with, or becoming myself an author and spread into the world happiness and sweetness to all grownups and children who'll be interested in my way of telling stories, both in French and in English (as soon a I find a way to print in another language and find a way to share my printed books across oceans without too much shipping cost).
I'm hoping also to fill the gap between comic books and children's books, to create for adults and young adults illustrated original books, full of magic and well written long stories.
To do so, I'm already illustrating a short story of a cheetah and a gardener who'll live an adventure together. The author and I will start a crowdfunding campaign on Ulule (and/or on Kickstarter) as soon as the book will be more advanced. I'm taking SVS courses to improve and get a lot better to offer to people a better-quality content... I learned on the SVS forum how great it is to learn from your fellow companions, so I'm planning on creating books visually filled with your advice. I intended to go to art exhibitions and trade fairs, but the international pandemic cut this off. I'm also searching for a publisher that'll be interested in my craft... As soon as I have a well-advanced project, I'll be posting it on Instagram, to show to everyone behind the scenes.
And maybe, one day, in ten or twenty years, I'll be able to teach all the things that I learned as an illustrator, to give advice and tips to new, younger illustrators who'll want to create wonderful worlds as well.
Thank you so much, Gaëlle! It was great to talk with you.
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