Name: Aurore Damant
Age: 27
Profession: Character designer / Visual development artist / Art director / Illustrator.
Artistic training: I studied animation and design at Gobelins, l'ecole of image for 2 years.
Work done you're most proud of: It's too soon to say that I'm proud of the TV show I'm currently working on because it's not finished yet, but I'm pretty proud of being able to supervise a whole team of designers (I do the art direction of the show).
Work done you're least proud of: Luckily there's no work I'm particulary not proud of, however I'm not proud of some flaws I've got. For examle I can be very lazy, and that prevents me to improve myself.
The project you are currently working on and the next one, if any: I'm doing the art direction and the characters designs on a french TV show called « Commander Clark ».
You are inspired by: A lot of stuff. Literature : Roald Dahl, John Steinbeck, Jane Austen, Emile Zola, children books... Other artists : Mary Blair, Tom Oreb, Eyvind Earl, Delphine Durand, Marc Boutavant, Sempe, M. Sasek... And most generally animation artbooks and everything from the 50's (art, editorial cartoons, animation, advertising, photos).
Favourite artist: Definitely Mary Blair.
Pencil & paper, or mouse: I always start drawing on paper. But I can't do anything without Photoshop. Another flaw that I'm not proud of.
Music you listen to while working: French artists like Yann Tiersen, Vincent Delerm, Philippe Katerine and a lot of soundtracks. I also like listening to punchy music on the afternoon, it keeps me awake after a greasy lunch.
Curious habits while working: My leg never stop shaking, but stops as soon as I hold a pen (I've got no choice, otherwise I'd always have a trembling line). I hate to have smelly or sticky hands. I don't listen to music in the morning. And I take the same expression than the character I'm drawing.
Crazy stuff on your desktop: Nothing really crazy. At home, papers, toys and dust. At work, just papers. And a lot of post-it notes. But no dust, we have a cleaning woman.
To work, night or day? Before, day or night, I always had something cooking. Now that I proved myself, I like to take my time. So : day. Plus I'm cranky if I don't sleep enough.
Three movies to spend a Sunday relaxed at home: I prefer TV shows to relax. Any episode from Seinfeld, Friends or Malcolm in the middle will be fine.
Classic animation favorite: 101 Dalmatians.
Ancient Art or Modern: That's a terrible question. To be honest, I'm not really an art lover. I have a general art knowledge, and I apreciate some paintings or sculptures but my favorite is « commercial art ». I like every art related to advertising, music, books, entertainment... with a vintage look, of course.
Comedy or Drama: Comedy!
The thoughest moment of your professional career: Everytime I re-evaluate myself, which happens pretty often. I guess it's cyclic, I'm generally happy with my work but every once in a while I feel like crap, or I'm bored doing always the same thing and it scares me. So I try to move on and innovate.
The sweetest moment: Recently I went to LA with my botfriend and we visited all the big studios. We met a lot of talented people, it was incredible. Icing on the cake? I started working as a freelance character designer on « The Mighty B » at Nickelodeon. It's a huge step for me.
What you see yourself doing in 20 years? I sincerely don't know. Still working in animation, collecting a lot of experiences, continue to have fun... I just hope I won't be a bitter rusty cynical old woman living with hundred of birds or cats...
Tell us which has been the best advice you've been given both professional and personal: My dad told me when I was young that succes was 10% of talent and 90% of hard work. This sentence is etched in my memory and is borned out every day. Personally, I will add to this : don't forget to have fun!
Her blog: http://auroredamant.blogspot.com/
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