Instagram: @lamandarinebleue_ 1. What's your story? Where are you from?Hi ! I am Clémentine, founder of «la mandarine bleue», a beautiful adventure that began in January 2020. I live and work in France as a graphic designer, signage designer and illustrator (a whole bunch of very varied fields). I am a big lover of simple things in life and I like to marvel at the sky, the wind in the leaves or the pretty looks of passers-by. Oh yeah, and if there’s one thing about me, I’m a super hypersensitive. :) 2. Tell us about your aesthetic.I am an unconditional lover of colors and textures. I consider that my work is constantly in motion and that I cannot move forward without experiments. I like to make combinations of soft colors and strong colors. I am very instinctive in life as in work, so when I start working on an illustration, most of the time, I have no idea where it will end up and I like it. 3. What is your favourite medium and why?I started with color pencil and gouache. First, the color pencil because I like the efficiency of this technique, it’s dry, clean, and you can get wonderful textures. I always choose «watercolor» coloured pencils because they are very fat and I like the way they slide on the paper. Then I love to paint with gouache because it allows a density of strong colors and it is a slower, more meditative technique. It requires patience (a quality I don’t really have). And after a long hesitation, I bought an Ipad Pro, I downloaded Procreate and the possibilities became endless. I love this tool that I can carry everywhere. 4. What is your artistic process like?I don’t really have one. I have a desire, an idea, or a brief sometimes. I don’t do inspiration research before my illustrations, for example. I make a brief sketch, I begin to draw the elements that seem significant to me in my drawing, and I built around. As I said earlier, I never really know where it’s going to go. 5. Who and/or what inspires your work?Pretty much everything I see. And when I have no inspiration, I usually go for a walk and come back to my blank page a little later. I really like looking into the world of designers, photography. I’m also very sensitive to some of the color associations I see on the street, and when I can, I take pictures of them to remember them. 6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?I have been drawing for a few years and I had left that aside when I went back to working life and had jobs that did not give me the time to develop my illustrations. And one day, my mood was very bad, and I thought I had to do something that really made me feel good, something for myself. And that’s how I slowly went back to gouache and then opened «La mandarine bleue» account. 7. Where did you study?I studied editorial design in France, then graphic design, signage design, illustration and motion design in Brussels, Belgium. 8. Where do you see yourself in five years?I see myself buying a big house to renovate in the countryside with my lover, and working from home (in illustration and editorial design exclusively), with a view of my vegetable garden and my future Corgi who would frolic in the garden. 9. What about in ten?Outch ! The same thing as in 5 years, with perhaps a family that’s growing, a workshop outside with other creatives and setting up a collective that brings together several know-how. 10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?I’m not really thinking about it right now. I opened an e-shop last July, it was my first step. The second, I think about it in secret but I would love to illustrate a book for children. I am a big fan of Greek mythology and I would love to illustrate a book on this topic. 11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?French food, the best of the worlddd ! 12. Favourite book?I am a comic book fan. But I think that unfortunately I would only have French comics to advise you. In literature, I devour all the work of Annie Ernaux. 13. Favourite genre of music?My friends will tell you that I am an unconditional fan of Céline Dion (and they are right). I love the French variety, especially the 80s. I know everything by heart. If there is one useless skills that I have, it is that at the blind test, I am unbeatable. 14. What are your hobbies?Painting, reading comics, biking, singing like a crazy woman in my car, inventing choreographies when I get out of the shower, inventing a thousand lives, baking and not eating it afterwards, watching historical films and documentaries... in short there are so many... 15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?When I was a kid, I used to dream about having a candy store. Let’s be honest, I got over it. I think I would have liked to be an archaeologist, or a documentary filmmaker. Comments are closed.
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