Jennifer Oliver was kind enough to write and let me know that she has posted a two-part interview with French fantasy illustrator and concept artist Jean-Baptiste Monge (who I profiled previously here) on her blog Academy of Art Character and Creature Design Notes.
An Interview with Jean-Baptiste Monge, Part 1, and Part 2.
The blog is aimed at her students at Academy of Art University, but Oliver has generously shared the interview with the rest of us.
The interview, conducted in English, is profusely illustrated (how I love that phrase) with Monge’s beautiful, often detailed and wonderfully realized paintings, along with drawings, sketches and photographs of Monge at work (be sure to click on the images for larger versions).
Monge’s work is enchanting, in the fullest sense of that word, drawing you in with wonderfully stylized lines and forms and then charming the eye with beautiful touches and thoughtful details. He often reminds me of illustrators from the Golden Age of Illustration just before and after the turn of the 20th Century, so I found the list of influences he mentions in the interview of particular interest.
He mentions a number of painters and illustrators I would have associated with him from my impression of his style, and some I didn’t expect.
Many of the artists he mentions have been the subject of previous posts on Lines and Colors, including painters and clsssic illustrators like J. W. Waterhouse, Jean-Léon Gérôme, John Bauer, Edmund Dulac, Arthur Rackham, Alphonse Mucha, Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker and Haddon Sundblom, as well as contemporary illustrators like John Howe, PJ Lynch and James Gurney (links to my posts).
Oliver lists some resources for information on Monge, including his website, a portfolio on Creative Talent Network, his LinkedIn and Facebook pages and Mr. Dumblebee.
For more see my previous post on Jean-Baptiste Monge.
