Petite Madame's Frequently Asked Question
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Where does your nickname come from ?
In french "Petite Madame" means "Little Lady". I'm only 5'2'' (160 m) so you can guess where my nickname comes from, hum ? ;) -
Have you ever been to an art school ?
No. I've been drawing since the age of 7~8. I'm 30 which makes basically 22 years with a pencil in my hand. -______- -
What do you use for painting ?
Gouaches, pastels, inks, china ink, pencils. A lot. And my work station is a real mess, as you can see here...
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What kind of retouch software do you use ?
Photoshop CS only Photoshop CS. I don't have Painter for the moment but one day, who knows!! -
Your works looks like photos. Are they photo paintovers ?
My works aren't photo paintovers. They are made basically with gouache, pastels, pencils, etc, on which I add photographic encrustations on some parts with the Photoshop stamp tool. The basis is in fact a traditional art painting enhenced with Photoshop CS and photos. I use photos mainly for the eyes and the nose of my characters and sometimes for the set. Some photos come from the Deviant art stock and from french stock photos websites, and others from my personnal collection and fashion magazines. -
So, what technique do you use exactely for your fan arts and "realistic" works ?
- I draw a first picture with inks, acryl gouaches, pastels, pencils, etc...on Canson paper, a very thick kind of paper (between 124 g and 180g used for watercolors and painting). To cut a long story short, I do a very detailled drawing using all the traditional techniques.
- I draw THE SAME pix but this time with Photoshop CS. In fact I scan a sketch and then I color it with Photoshop. I don't put a lot of effects in it concerning the textures or the light. It's just a basic coloring. So far, we then have 2 identical drawings : one made in traditional art, and one in CG with Photoshop.
- I superpose with Photoshop CS the two drawings using a layer ("overlay, 40%", most of the time) and I obtain a third image that is in fact a mix of the two. Let's call this image "Image 3".
- I take LITTLE PARTS from photographies and then I superpose them with the "Image 3". The point is to superpose "real" images on strategic places on the drawing (a part of the eyes, nails, a part of the set). A complete superposition is useless and it's not a "drawing" anymore. In addition, little photographic encrustations give a better effect because when you look at the pix, you don't know what is a photo and what is painting or pastels. Basically we can say that there is about 80% of traditional art + Photoshop and 20% of incrustation.
- I add texture effects on clothings, walls, different parts of the set. I also use lighting effects and...and....THAT'S IT!!
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So, why don't you mention it more often ? Are you trying to make people believe that your drawings are 100% made with traditional art ? It's a lake of honesty! (believe it or not, I already had that kind of questions folks. )
I post on like 6 or 7 forums and websites on the internet. I explained my technique once or twice on each of them and aswered to a lot of questions about my works. I already don't have a lot of time to draw because of my job and my studies so mentioning every two minutes what kind of technique and what photos I used for this or that drawing is from my point of view, quite pointeless. It means that on each and every forum I post I would have to copy and paste the WHOLE five points explanation above...Quite long, hum? If you need precise explanations, just ASK me (believe it or not, I'm someone patient when it takes to answer to technical questions) but needless to use an aggressive tone with me or try to give me lessons about a so-called lake of honesty, capisce ? That's definitely the best way to make me angry. -
Can you do a "work in progress" so that we can see how you work ?
No, I don't have the patience for that kind of things. It's really a pain in the ass to stop every two minutes to scan the painting or to save every step of your work on Photoshop. Needless to say that you also have to write the whole explanation so that people can understand what you're doing. I did it one day on a french forum ([link]) but it took me so much time that I decided not to do it again even if the forum's members were really pleased by my very small tutorial. Thanks God, Internet is full of patient peolple who are kind enough to post tutorials. Unfortunately, I'm not :( Sorry.... -
Do you take "commissions" ?
Nope. I already don't have the time for my own ideas and fan arts so sorry guys, no commissions. I'm not a "fan arts factory" so no need to ask me by e-mail or with a Dev' note "Can you make a fan art of this ?" or "Can you draw me a fan art of that ?". -
Do you have a blog ?
Yes but it's in french, on a french site for french nerds. Sorry folks, I really don't have the courage to write a whole blog in english, I'm really too lazy... If you are interested anyway here's the link. -
Do you post your drawings on other websites or forums ?
Yes, I'm the Queen of the web.
Deviantart
My Space
Gamekult
That's it!! Any other questions ?