Artist in residence Maël uses watercolor in one of his demonstrations with Art students on October 12th, 2012.
In America, comics are mostly prominent among young boys reading Marvel’s adventures of Superman, Batman or others but in France, it’s grown men and women who read and shop in the comics’ section bookstores. What a cultural shock!
During the week of October 8th, many LFNY students had the chance to interact with the illustrator and writer of Notre Mère la Guerre, a comic book, or, in French, the forever-legendary Bande Dessinée (or BD).
I was born and raised in New York City, but the French part in me always enjoyed BD’s. My American mother never understood the magnitude of the craze until we moved to Paris. There, in the comics’ section of a bookstore we saw dozens of grown men and women reading BD’s. It was, to say the least, quite a culture shock. In America, comics are mostly prominent among young boys reading Marvel’s adventures of Superman, Batman, and more. Indeed, comics were never nearly as popular as they are in France.
This week, the French craze came to New York. Partners in the creation of Notre Mère la Guerre, these two young French artists spoke to the students about their collaboration together and their somewhat hectic lives as freelancers in their respective jobs. They discussed their inspirations for the characters in their comic, and it was interesting to learn that they draw from all kinds of experiences. One of their characters was inspired by a friend of Kris, another by an actual soldier from World War I. They were also clearly equals, disagreeing with each other without hesitation and speaking of past disagreements on certain parts of the story and how to represent them.
Another interesting element was the way they spoke to us. They did not use technical terms, even dismissing them as unimportant at times. They were clearly passionate about the matter at hand and communicated that passion to us in human terms, attempting to help us understand what about BD’s enthralled them so much. This was especially clear during the more interactive part of their presentation, when we were supposed to draw a storyboard of a scenario that Kris had written. Maël explained to us clearly how to show the passing of time, and how to draw a more complex icon with a clear background and foreground. He completed rounds among the students, giving them tips here and there, clearly genuinely interested.
The two authors made an interesting comparison of comics to films. They explained that BD’s require more concentration from someone reading, as the icons don’t show, for example, every single step of a person’s journey from one place to another. A movie will guide you more easily as you will see the actors every step of the way, while you will have to assume what goes on between two icons in a comic.
The two men were clearly very proud of their area of work and what they have completed. Despite crazy schedules and the constant stress of not knowing if whether they will make any money over a month, they seemed truly passionate about their jobs, and delighted at having the opportunity to share that passion.
About the Author :
Andrea is a Y12 student (Terminale ES) at the Lycée Francais de New York. It is her 5th year there. She is the news editor of the student publication The Lynx and passionate about history, economics, and tennis.