Une heure avec le dessinateur Philippe Druillet !

Philippe Druillet est un de mes modèles. Il y en a peu mais il figure vraiment dans les talents qui m’auront donné l’envie de prendre un crayon et de dessiner. C’est aussi en découvrant, adolescent, Lone Sloane que j’ai eu une sorte de bouleversement graphique. Vous le connaissez sûrement, Druillet est un artiste précurseur dans de nombreux domaines et notamment la bande-dessinée. Dès 1966, la création de son personnage Lone Sloane crée une rupture dans le paysage de la bande dessinée mondiale puis, au fil des parutions (La Nuit, Delirius, Yragaël, Urm le fou, Salammbô…) et de ses collaborations, (notamment avec Jean Giraud/Moëbius), il co-fonde Métal Hurlant » et la maison d’édition Les Humanoïdes Associés. Ce Commandeur des Arts et Lettres est avant tout un dessinateur avec un talent inestimable mais aussi un modèle d’audace et de réussite.

Philippe Druillet is one of the most influential French authors and is well known for his baroque drawings and bizarre science fiction stories. Druillet was born in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France but spent his youth in Spain, returning to France in 1952 after the death of his father. After working as a photographer for a couple of years, Druillet made his debut in comics with ‘Lone Sloane, le Mystère des Abîmes’, a comic book published by Losfeld in 1966, that drew inspiration from Druillet’s favorite science fiction writers Van Vogt and Lovecraft. Afterwards, he worked as a comedian with the Théatre de Soleil. At the same time, he made his first sci-fi and fantasy illustrations publishers like Opta, including a couple of Lovecraft reissues. Fascinated by ‘Elric le Nécromancien’, a novel by Michael Moorcock, Druillet made an audiovisual adaptation of the work with Michel Demuth, that was shown at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris in 1968. At the end of the 1970s, Druillet began expanding his activities and his focus became multimedia. Between 1978 to 1983, Druillet collaborated on Rolf Liebermann’s ‘Wagner Space Opera’ in the Opera de Paris. Les Humanoïdes published his first illustration portfolio, ’30 X 30 Druillet’, in 1981. He has created bronze sculpture and worked in animation, producing the film ‘Le Clone’ in 1982. Druillet founded Space Art Création in 1984 and he made his first glass sculptures. He was also involved with the renovation and the architecture of the Parissien Porte de la Villette subway station. Experimenting with film, photography and painting, Philippe Druillet remains an innovative artist.