Stef's Sketches

One of the best things about blogging is other bloggers. You may have seen comments here occasionally from Stéphane Kardos. I love his art and was honored when he sent me this sketch inspired by my post of September 14th. I asked Stef if I could post it and he agreed. We did an email interview. I cut out my questions because his answers are the interesting part.

about the picture:

I painted this on my iphone (after I saw the photo on your blog) with a software/application called "Brushes." It's like having a mini Photoshop in your pocket. I also use an application called “Picoli” to play with the sharpness of my final painting.

I love the light in Altadena. The sunsets are amazing! And the light on the mountains is mind blowing, but it changes so quickly, by the time you are ready to paint, the light is gone! The only way was to take a photo and paint it at home in my studio.

But I love being on site, I love the spontaneity, the mistakes because you were in a rush, or because the car I was painting just left, this person moved...

So this little software is a treasure. I just go around with my iphone in my pocket, and when I spot a beautiful light in the sky, a reflection on a building, a car parked under a street light, I just do it. I’m planning on doing 100 mini paintings on my Iphone and put a book together.

about Stef:

I was born about 50 miles North East of Paris, in the Champagne area. Beautiful, great food and Champagne almost for free... but not much to do.

As a child I was in love with Disney movies and Tex Avery cartoons! My Mum got me a book about him when I was 11, and I copied the drawings so many times, it was a great way to learn how to draw cartoon characters. When I was 16, I moved to the North of France to study in Animation School. After I graduated, I went to an illustration school in Strasbourg, to “Les Arts Decoratifs”. After a year I was hired as an illustrator at a small studio that was doing children’s books and adapting Disney Animated Movies into kids’ books.

I started at the Disney Studios in Paris in 1997, then moved to their London Offices in 2001. I stayed 6 years there, and was offered a job in L.A. last year. My wife and I had just got married; we jumped on the opportunity to discover a new country!

I’m a Director Character Artist at Disney Consumer Products in Glendale, heading a team of Artists that mainly draws Winnie the Pooh for all consumer purposes. We do everything from the first rough drawing to the final color artwork. I’ve been drawing Winnie the Pooh and all the characters around him for a long time, and I still love it. I also draw a lot of other Disney characters; I’ve been working on Fairies recently, Hannah Montana, WALL-E…

Working here in California was a dream I had when I was a kid in France. To be actually here now working in the Disney Studios is so inspiring.

My wife and I moved in Altadena last November. It was a bit of a shock when we arrived in L.A from Europe last August. We were used to old buildings and small streets, and we didn’t find any of this until we discovered Pasadena. We were so happy to see people walking around on Colorado, shops, restaurants, it felt more European.

Then a friend told us about Altadena. We drove there and fell in love. It looked like the South of France, palm trees, mountains, a lot of vegetations, and we loved the fact that it was quieter than Pasadena and a bit quainter. We bought a beautiful house from 1914. My wife, our dog and myself are very happy; Altadena felt like home as soon as we moved in.

I’m very inspired here, and will be for a long time. I learn more and more everyday about this beautiful part of L.A that my wife and I call home.