Dominique LOUIS meets Erik TIEMENS

Dominique LOUIS on the left, Erik TIEMENS on the right, a very rare book in the middle. Two masters of light sharing a holy sketchbook under the sun of California. I did not crop the picture so you can enjoy a part of the Dominique's garden and the big lighted sunshade (what a beautiful place for sketching or painting, I wish we could have the same weather all year long in Paris...). I would love to know what they talked about during this meeting. A big thank to Dice for making this amazing meeting possible.

French Interview online by "www.jamais203.net"

Jacinthe Busson, rédactrice sur le fameux site www.jamais203.net nous fait l'honneur d'une sympathique interview disponible depuis ce jour.
If you want like to read "french" in the text, a nice interview by Jacinthe Busson on the famous french site : www.jamais203.net is currently available online.

Erik TIEMENS for Sketchtravel

Dice has just sent me the Erik Tiemens 's painting and contribution to the Sketchtravel Sketchbook and for me it is already a classic. Enjoy the forceful stroke and beautiful atmosphere Erik painted. We can feel the wind and hear the storm.
A feast for eyes. Visit Erik Tiemens website/blog where he reports his process about this amazing gouache. Thank you very much for being part of this adventure Mr TIEMENS. For people who does not know Erik Tiemens yet, I also invit you to
read the following bio (from Starwars.com)

Erik Tiemens came to Episode II after initial production had already wrapped to provide the post-production teams with dramatic environmental illustrations to establish look and mood for such dynamic sequences as the droid factory and the start of the Clone Wars.With his powerful work, Tiemens has continued straight on into Episode III. Together with Ryan Church, Tiemens leads the environmental and industrial design efforts for the film as Concept Design Supervisor. Inspired by Star Wars and classic movies in his youth, Tiemens studied traditional drawing and painting at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, graduating with distinction in 1990.
"I developed a deeper appreciation for the arts there, especially 19th century painting. The learning there has brought references into my film work. In the digital medium where we need to invent new things, like environments, it's always nice to create a link to the visual past. I believe if we're only looking at what's been done in the past few years or so, it gets tiring to the audience. To look back on the layers of history, early photography, sculpture, painting and the arts in general gives us a more rewarding experience." Tiemens started in the movie industry as a concept artist. He has worked on films, theme park designs, and television shows, while continuing to paint traditional landscapes and figurative works. He was later recommended by concept artist Iain McCaig from work the two did on an ILM project. Tiemens' previous experiences included such films as Forrest Gump, Jurassic Park, Contact and Star Wars: Special Edition Honors for Tiemens include an Honorary Emmy for matte painting on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series and an Emmy nomination for designing the opening of Star Trek Voyager series. He was also featured in the books The Art of Star Wars -- Special Edition, The Art of Star Wars: Attack of the Clonesand The Art of Star Trek.
Samples of his traditional painting and digital work can be located online at his Web site watersketch.com.

Waiting for Carlos Nine.

Waiting for his contribution to Sketchtravel, here is the recent poster done by the Great illustrator Carlos Nine. Inimitable style, recognizable touch and such a personality ! I confirm that despite the fact Pumas from Argentina beated French up during the Rugby world cup opening, Carlos is still part of the team ;-) (thanks to Vincent for the news)

Dice meets Dominique Louis

Here is the pic from "THE" meeting between the absolute masters of colors and light, the Elite: Dice Tsutsumi and Dominique Louis, in front of Dominique's pastel from Ratatouille at Pixar (where Dice works since last june). Many of us would love to get them as Art teachers in a special Masterclass, don't you ? Both of them are currently working on the most expected upcoming movies. I can't wait Dominique launchs his own website and I daily look at Dice's blog where I feed my greedy brain with his astonishing artistic sensibility.

Dominique LOUIS painting for Sketchtravel

What's up since Robert Valley 's incredible drawing ? Well, the french Artist Dominique Louis has just send me the marvellous pastel he exclusively done in the Sketchtravel's Sketchbook a few weeks ago. Inspired by his trips all over the globe, Dominique offers us his new vision : a mix between El Matador beach at Malibu and Indian atmosphere. He called his painting (in french) : "Inde Oceane". Because Dominique Louis is a rare artist online and in libraries, here is his official bio :
Dominique Louis is a an Art Director and Photographer working for the international movie and Animation industry . He is a very passionate, creative artist and painter who brings his unique dramatic style of lighting and color to the design of feature films such as Disney-Pixar 's "Ratatouille“, "Monsters .Inc" , "Finding Nemo " , "Lifted " and WB 's "The Iron Giant" .

Born and raised in Burgundy, France, he has from an early age, shown a very creative nature. Generally influenced by Disney magical films and Hollywood Classics, Dominique orientated his studies towards Fine Arts and Animation. After graduating from CFT Gobelins as Character Animator, he realized his true passion was actually Movie Sets and Lighting Design .
In 1991, he started his career as an Assistant Art Director in London working for a variety of studios such as Passion Pictures . The following year he returned to Paris. For a period of 3 years he shared his time between the art direction of animated feature films projects and working for Walt Disney as a background artist on "The Goofy Movie ".
In 1995 , he moved to California to join Warner Brothers Feature Animations as a Visual Concept Artist. Dominique was involved in numerous projects such as " The Iron Giant" His vibrant pastel paintings were key elements in the promotion of a number of films including a poster for the magazine "Variety ". In 1997 he left Warner Brothers to become involved in the concept designs for Universal Studios Theme Park projects .

In 1998 , he was thrilled to join Pixar, being offered the opportunity to art direct Pixar’s 3rd Feature film "Monsters Inc" directed by Pete Docter. Through the painting of a much acclaimed collection of pastel paintings,Dominique brought his unique sense of lighting to the film, from the early art concepts to the final lighting designs of the individual sequences and scenes of the film. His work is featured in "the Art of Monsters Inc ", a book published after the film was released, exhibiting the art behind the movie.
Dominique grew up in the tradition of French cuisine, his grandfather being a chef for the Rothschild family. In 2001 he felt very honored to do the art direction of the film "Ratatouille " which takes place in the centre of French gastronomy in his favorite city Paris .
In parallel to his passion as a creative artist and painter Dominique has developed a vivid interest in photography and digital image processing. He decides to use the digital medium for his production paintings to define the more realistic lighting style of "Ratatouille " . His experience at Disney-Pixar also included the design of other films such as "Finding Nemo","Boundin" and "Lifted" as well as some stage design for a " Monsters Inc " ride in Disney World, Florida . He also enjoyed the wonderful experience of performing the voice of " Bomb Voyage " in for the film "The Incredibles " .
In 2006 he left Disney-Pixar to broaden his artistic experience. He was interested to have the opportunity to use his art for some thing completely different when at the beginning of this year Francis Coppola assigned him to undertake the design of 2 original labels for the Rosso & Bianco Wines from his newly acquired "Rosso & Bianco Winery ".
More recently, he has provided his art for 2 new projects in development at Aardman studios ,UK .
Dominique’s paintings have been sold as limited edition prints and at numerous different auctions including Christies, the Red Cross etc. in 2005 his paintings were featured at New York Museum Of Modern Art in the exhibition " Pixar: 20 Years of Animation " .
His art has recently been broadly featured in the book "The Art of Ratatouille ".

SKETCHTRAVEL's birthday !!

Sketchtravel, Already ONE year around the world.

Yes, it's Sketchtravel's birthday today. Did I already tell you how this story started ?If I did, don't read this post :-). It was the first of september 2006. SuperMike Knapp and his wife Ellie (the funniest New-Yorker ever), The most romantic couple of the year : Greg Couch and his Girlfriend, Nash Dunningan and his charms, Giant Bob Mackenzie and his huge talent, Greedy Vincent Di NGuyen and his Beautiful Wife Katherine, and the incontrovertible MasterDice were promoting their first volume of Out Of Picture at Famous Arludik Galery. They spend a week in our old city of light. Dice and I were coming back from a jaunt to some french comic library in the afternoon, in a encumbered bus. I was very impressed by his ability to draw despite the jogs, the sweltering crowd and the jetlag. Surviving to my french-yak Dice took me seriously when I told him it would be great if we shared one sketchbook between artists. And here we are. One year later, Generous and highly motivated huge artists, fabled illustrators, stars and puppet masters convinced by Dice and your servant took up the challenge, day after day. My careful wife brings her webdesign savoir-faire to the www.sketchtravel.com, a thoughtful devoted lawyer keep blanketing us for free, Jean-Jacques and Diane Launier from Arludik Galery support us. Our provider Benjamin Desmet helps us for free. Maud Remy, Redha Zaim, Lionel Payet , Geri Montet, Côme Jalibert, Yannick Jehannet, Marie Zidi and Tom Gres helped me to make a trailer for Sketchtravel promotion for free. David Panzo designed the french press-kit. Elodie Fagan and André Brizard help with english translations.
The Sketchbook bought in Paris has already visited : New-York, Tokyo, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles. I dedicate this post to the great artists who already added their astonishing contribution and to my friend Dice. I have never seen anybody so involved in an artistic project. Dice, your endurance and your pugnacity are incredible. Sketchtravel and I owe you a lot.