@sebastientouache

Instagram:@sebastientouache

1. What's your story? Where are you from?

I'm a french illustrator. I live and work in Paris for a while now.

2. Tell us about your aesthetic.

I like childhood and ignorant aesthetic. I like to see smiles when people look at my stuff. Good vibe, colorful and friendly pictures. I like to draw for kids, with a reading layer for adult.

3. What is your favourite medium and why?

I like to paint on walls actually. Because you're focused on your wall during a whole day, (far from internet and facebook haha) you have to make something from morning till night, you can experiment as you want, no client, no filter. Also when you paint in big, shapes and colors are more rough than on computer. It's also always a good way to spend time outside the studio, with my girlfriend which an amazing artist (Steffie Brocoli) and friends.

4. What is your artistic process like?

Most of the time I start with computer. I work for a while with a screen tablet, which is the perfect tool to experiment on computer. Then, it depends on the project I'm working on. If it's commercial, I use vector tool, to draw with shapes of colors (like papercut in a way) more than lines. Then, I use photoshop to paint it and to add different effect. I like to use a small range of colors, I used to silkscreen a lot, that could explain why i like to work with only few colors. If I have to work on an exhibition, I use computer to start as well. Then I paint, with an idea of what i'm gonna do, thanx to my computer sketch. So yes my computer is definitely my best friend, even if the render is not digital, the computer is my sketchbook.

5. Who and/or what inspires your work?

Daily life for sure, friends, pop culture from my childhood, comics, anime etc... Actually it's hard to say precisely, it's a melting pot of lots of things. I'm not really able to tell you what inspires my work, in Paris I have the chance to see a lot of exhibitions who feeds my work for sure, but I hope not too directly.

6. What role does art play in your life? How does it change the way you view the world?

Art has a central role in my life for sure. My friends are artists, my girlfriend as well. It helps me to get satisfaction from life, to laugh about this sick world, to take distance with reality.

7. Where did you study?

In a small school near Paris, with the friends i'm working since then : Nicolas Barrome which is a crazy good artist and a very close friend, Mathieu Julien more involved in graffiti writing, JeanMichel Ouvry. We founded, almost ten years ago, Jeanspezial, our collective.

8. Where do you see yourself in five years? Working in an agency?

In five years i'd like to work for myself, as i do for ten years now. No agency thanks : ) I've never worked in agency and I really don't want. I can't actually, because I hope I have my language, I prefer to go further in this language than working for clients in an agency, and use many different language.

9. What about in ten?

The same, maybe with kids ! I'm a bit afraid by the future, but definitely I want to have kids, play with them, draw with them, make handmade stuff with them. I draw books for children, and when i meet the young audience it's always lot of fun and joy. Kids are amazing but they become adult too young now, because of society, they have to consume younger and younger, go buy the new iphone, the new jacket in H&M, the new shitty musician etc. I like innocence of childhood, a short period of pure beauty.

10. What do you hope to achieve with your art?

I don't think in this terms actually. I make stuff to be happy, to get a kind of satisfaction. I do things one by one, and I don't think about a global plan or objectives.

11. Now, tell us a little more about you as a person: what is your favourite food?

I don't eat meat for a while now, so my favourite food is as organic as possible, slow food, I prefer eat some local stuff than fast food for sure. In France we have the chance to have crazy good cheese, a lot of different variety. I really like boulangerie aswell. In a way i'm a bit cliche hahaha but definitly I dont want to go to supermarket anymore to buy shitty food.

12. Favourite book?

I read a lot of comics, books sometimes, but more about concepts or society, so it takes more time to analyse and understand well (I spent almost one year to try to understand the though of guy debord and his famous 'société du spectacle'). Impossible to speak about only one. I really like a graphic novel called "hors zone" (in french), drawn by the amazing blexbolex. I really like "viva patamache" as well, drawn by Kilofer, crazy story and amazing drawings ! About food i recently read the best seller from Jane Goodman called in french "nous sommes ce que nous mangeons" which means "you are what you eat". Very instructive book.

13. Favourite genre of music?

I'm fond of diy music kind of, so garage for sure, cold wave, independent rock. I like the idea of the band, tour, time spent with friends. In France we have a very good label called born bad records, a lot of good french artists and a specific vision.

14. What are your hobbies?

Paintings on walls and make stuff by myself ! I don't really like to do nothing actually, or to spent time and money in buying stupid things. I don't want to take part in consumerism society, even if i can't, I try to keep distance with stupid consumerism. That's also why I really like to paint on walls, because it's free, noting to buy nothing to sell, just fun and moments shared with friends. I like nature as well, forest, bike for sure. But most of the time I work on my stuff in the studio.

15. If you weren't an artist, what would you be?

Dunnow ! I like the approach of the artisan, a baker or a carpenter. To deal with the matter, with something real and noble. To work on a process and become better and better. And something inked in the real life. Make real stuff as bread, furniture...