N°194: From Electrons To Stars

In March 2013, the European Space Agency [ESA] will launch GAIA. A successor of Hypparcos, GAIA will have the task to generate a complete, three dimensional map of our Milky Way galaxy.
Last summer, I was contacted by French astro-physician Thibaut Prod'homme, who works at the Leiden University. I worked as a cover artist for his brilliant Thésis: "From Electrons to Stars: Modelling and mitigation of radiation damage effects on astronomical CCDs". It was a no brainer for me, as I enjoy the idea to work for many different fields, Astro-physics being certainly an exciting one !

From the thesis: "To visualize outer space and immense manifestations such as solar eruptions, French illustrator Julien ALDAY manipulates photographic elements
by shooting oxidation upon metallic plates.
In recording a small chemical reaction, he ultimately depicts events on a cosmic scale.
From top to bottom the graphical elements represent the Gaia spacecraft downlinking data to Earth, the Earth and its magnetosphere, the Sun and the solar wind"


Take care, Folks.
Julien

N°193: When We Were Executioners

Happy Halloween everybody !
Today I want to share with you guys the illustration I made for When We Were Executioners, second book from the Dogsland trilogy, by one of the rising star of Fantasy: J.M McDermott. You guys might remember the cover art I made for book one, Never Knew Another. I'm glad to be the cover artist for such great stories. And you guys will have a blast if you are looking for non conventional fantasy books.

In order to represent Dogsland, I used samples from Mont St-Michel shots I made years ago, while haveing time with my dear American friends, Mike and Alex [Hello, Elliot !].
The character on the cover wore his assassin's clothes, I found interesting to use it as a way to reavel his real nature, the one he tries to hide. So here's for the scales, suggesting his "demon" nature. The shots cames from a Pangolin. Yeah, I had a Pangolin at home, once.
A few elements were made as a reminder from my first cover, as wanted by my publisher, Night Shade Books.
A special thanks to Dave Palumbo, my Art Director. Working with you is always a pleasure !

Take care folks,
Julien.

N°192: CFSL Workshop 2011

Back from Paris, where I was attending CFSL Workshop as a staff member. I had a blast, as I saw old friends and met new ones. A unique event in France. Then, I had the chance to met and talk with some of my heroes: Kent Williams and Allen Spiegel [thank you Nick and Anabelle ].

De retour de Paris, où j'ai participé au CFSL Workshop en tant que membre du staff. C'était l'occasion de revoir de vieux amis et d'en rencontrer de nouveaux. En un mot: j'ai kiffé ! Puis j'ai également eut l'occasion de rencontrer deux de mes héros, à savoir Kent Williams et Allen Spiegel [Merci Nick et Anabelle].



Un gros merci à Claire et Maïka [merci les filles], pour nous avoir hébergés, Brutal Moineau et moi.
À Kness and Made, les organisateurs. Vous êtes formidable et vous sentez bon [1]
À Brutal Moineau, Nénent, Mémi et Sandee [mes chouchoux Marseillais], Daji [En route, Robin !], Reuno Rigolo, Sephiel, Gary, Mathieu, Martine, Floe [des bisous pour ta main], Sosou [des bisous aussi, mais arrête de me regarder comme ça ! :P], Pierrot, Emmanuel Malin, Thorn, Niavel [merci pour la tablette !], et je suis sûr d'en oublier plein [sorry].

Il y a les gens à qui je n'ai parlé que trop brièvement, mais je suis sûr qu'il y aura d'autres occasions ! ;)
[ou pas !] :P

Merci à Nerval et Jean-Sebastien Rossbach pour leurs interventions. C'est toujours riche, et puis ça permet de recharger les accus ! :)

Enfin, un grand merci à Andoryss, parce que trouver une fille avec qui je puisse chanter "I just had sex" aux Furieux, me faire démonter le bras dans la foulée et surtout m'expliquer certains aspects physionomiques[2] propre au dessinateur mâle, bein c'est pas rien. Et si tu me lis, merci pour-tu-sais-quoi. :3 Et j'en rajoute une couche ! ;3

Au fait: lisez "Les Enfants D'Evernight", chez Delcourt. Bonne lecture, et grosse surprise: ça pourrait passer pour de l'Heroic Fantasy au premier coup d'œil. À la lecture, on pense progressivement à des héros et des thèmes de la littérature Victorienne dilués dans ce tableau. Et c'est plus que ça.

Sinon, je ne remercie pas:
-Paris. Des piétons aux scooters, en passant par les cyclistes: vous êtes complétement cinglés les mecs ! J'ai faillit en avaler mon cure-dent ! Heureusement pour vous qu'il y avait Daji [c'était ça ou le Body-count] !
-La SNCF. Pour m'avoir privé de Crowley et de HK ! Pour m'avoir privé de train au retour. Comme si ça allait me stopper !

J'avais prévu de finir cette image avant le workshop, mais je suis arrivé à court de temps... On va parler de work in progress. Je ne la pousserai pas plus loin, je dois me consacrer à la bande dessinée, maintenant. Ça va être très amusant ! :)

I planned to finish this one before go to the workshop, but wasn't able to do... So, let's consider this as a WIP. I will probably don't push this one further, as I'm dedicated to comics art right now. It's going to be a lot of fun ! :)

Take care, Folks !
J.

[1] Oui, je sais. C'est tout ce que j'ai trouvé sûr le moment. :P Et vous valez tellement plus. :)

[2] Oui, je sais. C'est pas le bon terme, mais la phrase elle-même est trop obscure. Alors on va faire comme si. :P

N°191: Microon-1

A special thanks to Jean-Sebastien Rossbach, for bringing the perfect soundtrack to my attention. Being a huge fan of Alva Noto since years now, and I guess there's no need to introduce you guys to Ryuichi Sakamoto. Their collaboration through the past years gave so much little gems. And their last album, Summvs, is no exception.

I'm taking a breack, sharing with you a sample from the picture I'm working on at the moment.

[-]

Back to work, now.

Take care,
J.

N°190: September

I have to do quick today, sorry folks !
Just a work in progress today. Still a lot of things to do on this one, but I like it that way: bold, raw, energic with a few smooth textures: Acrylic splashes over ink washes.

The font I used for that picture is "Nagasaki", designed by an all time favourite o' mine: Tom Muller. Always wanted to have a Muller font to work with. You can find it via the great Hypefortype website ! And even if it's not finish, I had a blast with it !

Take care !
Julien

[To be updated, or not !]

N°189: Sorry For The Dust

[to be updated, or not]

Long time, no blog. The place started to be kinda dusty here.
Sorry for that, Folks ! Being very busy, and not always Art related.
Anyway, back to blog.

Like we said in France: "À tout Seigneur tout honneur" ! I will start with the Gorilla Artbook, a great compendium of the Gorilla Artfare collective. Being a member from the early days, it feels great to see what was just a bunch of friends, back in the day, being featured in one heavy book ! And what a book !

Alongside my "regular" illustration work, I have made a couple of fake-movie posters collaborations with Cody Tilson, The Great and The Almighty Crowley. Props to Federico Piatti and Victoria Maderna for their awesome, Saul Bass style, design.


On a personal side, this book is also the opportunity to be published with all my old friends from GA ! Adam Paquette, Alexander Draude, Alice Duke, Aly Fell, Ben Foster, Björn Hurri, C.R. MacTernan, Cody Tilson, Daniel Clarke, David Palumbo, Devin Platts, Emily Gordon, Emmanuel Malin, Erin Kelso, Federico Piatti, Guillaume Ospital, Jon McCoy, Kan Muftic, Karla Ortiz, Liam.C, Michael Meier, Mike Dutton, Min Yum, Nénent, Nic Klein, OYO, Patri Balanovsky, Randall Whiteis, Rich Pellegrino, Robin Chyo, Rodrigo Luff, Scott Altmann, Sergio Lopez, Simon Fellah, Thomas Scholes, Tiffany Prothero, Troy Galluzi, Véronique Meignaud, Victoria Maderna, Ville Ericsson, Winona Nelson... And, many, many more !

You can put your hands on this monster here !


I have also been featured on CFSL Artbook 05. I have allready said it, but to my opinion, this illustration anthology is the only French equivalent to Spectrum, so far. I'm featured with my man Nénent for our artwork on short comic "Mauvaises Graines". You can order this beauty here.


Last but not least, Magnitude 9 ! Countaining illustrations from the Tsunami initiative. A great book for a noble cause. I'm glad to be a part of it. All the artists in this book gave their best. You can find the heavy 256 pages book here.

Some news:
-I have done another cover for Night Shade Books, and I had a blast with it.
-I'm currently finishing a cover for an Astro-Physic thesis ! Yeah, you read it right !
More soon !
Take care,
J.

N°188: Poland

Still a post made for movies lovers. To be updated... or not ! ;)
Movie posters made in Poland always have a special place for me.
Enjoy !