Interview : Alain Brion     

Alain Brion is a comic author/illustrator who studied graphic arts between 1985 and 1991 hoping to become artistic director for an advertisement company in Paris. Unfortunately for him, the job market was saturated when Alain started applying for positions in this field. Jobless, Alain tried painting and fashion designing without conviction and the results are not worth mentioning. Finally, he decided to do what he likes most and started a career as an illustrator with “Les Editions Jeunesse” who published around fifteen of the books he wrote and illustrated between 1994 and 2002. At the same time, Alain started contacting SF and Fantasy publishers; he felt very attracted by the field for the opportunities that it offers to illustrators. He worked for some of these publishers for almost ten years. The experience he acquired in this field and the graphic revolution of the past decades encouraged him to follow one of his dreams and start drawing comics. In 2003, Alain abandoned children’s books and consecrated all his time and efforts to comic books. Until today Alain Brion has published four albums.

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IT’S ART: It is surprising that an artist like you, whose works can be found in every bookstore in three different sections, is very discreet on the web. Is there a reason behind this offline policy?

Alain Brion: I do have an “I don’t care” attitude, but I’m trying to change. I don’t know if it’s laziness that has kept me from putting myself online, I just haven’t been interested. I publish some of my works online under a nickname: Marulaz, but that doesn’t help much.

IA: One can feel that your working techniques have changed since the year 2000, your work seems to have gained a lot of freedom and power. What is the reason behind those changes?

AB: That was the year where I started fully working with digital software. It was liberating indeed, it feels like anything is possible. It was a true artistic revolution for me and my work.

IA: Do you think that the evolution of your style is related to the evolution of your techniques and tools?

AB: Yes, it sure is. But that is not all, I always try to astonish myself, to create new things and discover other ways than the ones I’m used to. That is why my style keeps changing, for the better I hope.

IA: The software and the tools that you use are still the same though…

AB: Yes indeed. Since I started working on a computer my tools are still the same: Photoshop, Bryce, Poser and Amapi.

IA: Can you describe to our readers one day of your life as a comic artist?

AB: There is hardly a day that looks like the other, but I will try my best to describe my daily working habits. First, I don’t put schedules for myself and I never know how many hours I will be working daily, that changes from day to day. When I start working I usually start by drawing a vague storyboard on a piece of paper, it could be at home, at the office or even in a café. Then I take this story board to the computer and I build it up in 3D square by square before starting the compositing and montage on Photoshop. The 3D serves like a pencil drawing and I add colors with the graphic tablet.

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