Interview #34: The art of Jerome Pelissier
Find out how Jerome Pelissier and his partner Carine Hinder created the universe of Brume, an award-winning comic book
Hello art community! Today’s artist is Jerome Pelissier, you may know from the comic book Brume. Get ready to see some breathtaking artwork!!!
PS. I have a little update for the page. You’ll now receive the interviews every other Friday. This means you’ll still be getting 2 new interviews per month ;)
For those just finding me - I’m Madalina, an artist and illustrator who loves discovering and talking to many fellow artists. I now share these conversations through monthly interviews available to read for everyone :)
Jérôme Pelissier is a French author and illustrator working in the children's book industry. You may know him for his award-winning comic book series Brume. What you may not know about him is that he started his professional career in video games as a 2d/3d artist and screenwriter. After many years in the industry, he decided to shift completely to children's book illustrations. In this interview you'll learn more about his transition, style, and artistic process.
★ Hello Jérôme, and thank you for joining forArtists. How would you describe your artistic journey that led you to where you are today?
Hi! Drawing has become a real passion since the age of 7. I used to spend all my time reading and drawing. When I had to choose my studies, nothing else interested me.
I studied at a prestigious applied arts school in Paris: École Estienne. After my internship, I got a job as a 2D and 3D artist in video games, and then moved on to the position of art director at UBISOFT. I worked in video games for 15 years. Towards the end, I began to feel limited in my creativity; the technical constraints of video games frustrated me. So I contacted children's book publishers, and once the connections were made, I went freelance!
My partner, Carine Hinder, was already working in this field and encouraged me to follow her. We moved from the Paris region to the beautiful Breton countryside. This magical place inspired an epic story based on local legends and we started creating comics: Brume was born :)
★ What challenges did you encounter when transitioning from video games to book illustration? Did you have to learn everything from scratch, or did you find many similarities between these two industries?
I spent all my time drawing for video games, so the transition to book illustration was not a completely new learning curve.
However, I had to correct certain reflexes acquired throughout my career, such as the rendering that was too realistic or too detailed, to gain efficiency and sensitivity. Video games allowed me to become very efficient in organizing my work and meeting deadlines though.
★ How has your style evolved over the years? Were you forced to modify your creative choices by the industry, or did it come naturally?
What we call "style" is, to me, as uncontrollable as our way of speaking or our accent, for example. It changes and evolves according to our path, our maturity, our curiosity, our discoveries, our inspirations, our encounters, and our aspirations. We cannot control it and, in my opinion, there is no point in trying. When I realized this, I stopped trying to invent a style and let it evolve with me.
This is some old work:
★ What advice would you give to artists who are starting out in children's books?
When I meet students who dream of this career, I make them understand one thing: their driving force is their passion... if it's true, they would move mountains to make a living from their art. It's impossible not to reap the rewards of the work you strive to do. So you have to draw, draw some more... and once you're done, draw again... be curious too. About everything! Be open to others, be interested in all forms of culture, and nurture yourself, because creativity is a voracious monster that quickly runs out if you don't feed it regularly.
★ You work with your partner Carine Hinder on the comic book series Brume. How did you come up with the idea for the story and how did you divide up the tasks?
This story grew out of the fog present in our village during fall and all the legends of Brocéliande (the Arthurian myths, for example). In our village lived a real witch, whose name was Naïa. This colorful character formed the basis of our story.
When it came to dividing the tasks, we simply took charge of the areas we felt most comfortable with. Carine doesn't write, but I do, so I wrote the script. Carine is a former video game animator, she's very gifted at bringing characters to life, so she did the drawing part. I have an infinite love for color, so I colored it!
★ Can you explain your artistic process for coloring a page of Brume? What are the key points for achieving good lighting?
The first thing I look for is a color palette that matches the emotion I want the reader to experience.
Then I use lighting like a director in a movie, trying to guide the reader's gaze to where it needs to be, to fully experience the scene. Then I try to harmonize the palette to give the comic a graphic signature by coloring Carine's lines, for example - the advantage of working as a couple is that we trust each other and can allow ourselves to do this kind of things.
★ What are your favorite digital brushes?
I create my own digital brushes. I work with a maximum of three.
★ How do you keep your passion and creativity alive?
By staying curious about everything, spending time with other artists (most of whom have become friends), listening to music, traveling, reading, listening to my children play, observing people, listening to inspiring people, trying to stay humble, sharing my passion with students and learning from them as well.
★ What are your goals and projects for 2025?
Continue the adventures of Brume, and we're also working on a spin-off based on this universe :)
★ What's the question you receive most often in your dms?
Will there be a sequel to Brume?
- YES!
☆☆ To learn more about Jerome's work you can visit his Instagram and support his art and books.
