Philippe Druillet (; born 28 June 1944) is a French

comics artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

and creator, and an innovator in

visual design Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is not only concerned with developing the message in addition to the ...

Biography

Philippe Druillet was born in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, but spent his youth in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, returning to France in 1952 after the death of his father. A

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

fan, Druillet worked as a

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

after graduating from high school, drawing only for his own pleasure. His first published series was his version of Michael Moorcock's Elric stories in a short-lived magazine. His first book, ''Le Mystère des abîmes'' (''The Mystery of the Abyss''), appeared in 1966. It introduced his recurring hero '' Lone Sloane'' and played on science-fiction themes partially inspired by his favourite writers, H. P. Lovecraft and A.E. van Vogt. Later, Druillet created book covers for new editions of Lovecraft's work, as well as numerous movie posters. After Druillet became a regular contributor to the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''

Pilote Cover of the first ''Pilote'' issue #0 ''Pilote'' () was a French comic magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as ''Astérix'', '' ...

'' in 1970, his ''Lone Sloane'' saga grew steadily more flamboyant as he pursued innovative new imagery, including bold page designs and

computer-generated images Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images m ...

. His backdrops of gigantic structures inspired by

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

indigenous architecture The field of Indigenous architecture refers to the study and practice of architecture of, for and by Indigenous people. It is a field of study and practice in the United States, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, Canada, Arctic area of Sápmi and m ...

, and

Gothic cathedrals Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass ...

earned him the nickname of "space architect". Six tales about Sloane's exploits were collected in ''Les six voyages de Lone Sloane'' in 1972, hailed by many as his masterpiece, and Sloane was again the hero of the graphic novel ''Délirius'' (1973), written by

Jacques Lob Jacques Lob (19 August 1932 – 24 May 1990) was a French comic book creator, known for several comics creations, including '' Superdupont''. Biography Jacques Lob began his career as an illustrator of humorous cartoons that were published in va ...

. In 1973, Druillet also produced the Moorcock's '' Elric''-inspired ''Yragaël'' for ''Pilote'', and ''Vuzz'' for the magazine ''Phénix''. In 1975, Druillet joined

Jean-Pierre Dionnet Jean-Pierre Dionnet (; born 25 November 1947) is a French comics writer and TV presenter. He has also worked as an editor-in-chief (in '' Métal Hurlant''), journalist, editor, film producer/distributor, and blogger. He was the co-founder of the ...

, Bernard Farkas, and Moebius to form the publishing house

Les Humanoïdes Associés Les Humanoïdes Associés (or simply Humanoïdes) is a France, Franco-United States, American publishing house specializing in comics and graphic novels, founded in December 1974 by comic artists Jean Giraud, Mœbius, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philipp ...

and the magazine '' Métal Hurlant''. This was to be a vehicle for his finest stories, and showcased a steady evolution in his graphical skills. His series ''Lone Sloane'' and ''Vuzz'' continued, and other stories of this period include ''La Nuit'', and ''Nosferatu''. In 1980, Druillet produced ''Salammbô'', a comic-book trilogy based upon

Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , , ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. Highly influential, he has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flauber ...

's proto-

heroic fantasy Heroic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy in which events occur in a world where magic is prevalent and modern technology is nonexistent. The setting may be entirely fictitious in nature or based upon Earth with some additions. Unlike dark fiction ...

novel ''

Salammbô ''Salammbô'' (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt (241–237 BCE). Flaubert's principal source was Book I of the ''Histories'', written by the Greek hist ...

''. Outside his work as a cartoonist and illustrator, Druillet has also been active in

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

, and

digital art Digital art refers to any artistic work or practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process, or more specifically computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960s, various names ...

. He worked as a designer on the film '' Sorcerer'', directed by

William Friedkin William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in t ...

in 1976. He collaborated on

Rolf Liebermann Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...

's ''Wagner Space Opera'' in the

Opera de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

in the late '70s to early '80s, and founded the Space Art Création in 1984. More recently, he created the artwork and designed large parts of the background of the 2005 TV miniseries remake ''Les Rois maudits'' (''The Accursed Kings'').

Awards

* 1972: European SF award for Comics for ''Lone Sloane'' at the first

Eurocon Eurocon is an annual science fiction convention held in Europe. The organising committee of each Eurocon is selected by vote of the participants of the previous event. The procedure is coordinated by the European Science Fiction Society. The first ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

* 1976: Grand Prix de la Science Fiction Française, Special Prize for ''Urm le Fou'' * 1988:

Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême The Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême is a lifetime achievement award given annually during the Angoulême International Comics Festival to a comics author. Although not a monetary award, it is considered the most prestigious award in Franco-Be ...

(lifetime achievement award), at the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (french: Festival international de la bande dessinée d'Angoulême) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lu ...

, France * 1990: ESFS Hall of Fame (best artist) at the 1990

Fayence Fayence (; oc, Faiença) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 5,735. Fayence is one of a series of "perched villages" overlooking the plain betwee ...

esfs.inf
Eurocon awards site 1990
/ref> * 1996: Grand Prix National des Arts Graphiques,

Bibliography

* '' Lone Sloane'': ** ''Le mystère des abîmes'' (1966, republished as ''Lone Sloane 66'', 1982, Les Humanoïdes Associés, ) ** ''Les six voyages de Lone Sloane'' (1972, Dargaud, ) ** ''Délirius'' (1973, with Jacques Lob, Dargaud, ) ** ''Chaos'' (2000, Albin Michel, ) * ''Firaz et la ville fleur'' / ''City of Flowers'' (with Picotto (art), 1974 in Heavy Metal, 1980, Dargaud, ) * ''Yragaël'' (1974, with Michel Demuth, Dargaud, ) * ''Vuzz'' (1974, Dargaud, republished 1981, Les Humanoïdes Associés, ) * ''Urm le fou'' / ''Urm the Mad'' (1975, Dargaud, ) * ''Mirages'' (1976, Les Humanoïdes Associés, ) * ''La nuit'' (1976, Les Humanoïdes Associés, ) * ''Gail'' (1978, self-published, republished 1982, Les Humanoïdes Associés, ) * ''Salammbô'': ** ''Salammbô'' (1980, Les Humanoïdes Associés, ) ** ''Carthage'' (1982, Dargaud, ) ** ''Matho'' (1986, Dargaud, ) * ''Nosferatu'' (1989, Dargaud, )

References

External links

*
Philippe Druillet
at Bedetheque * *
{{DEFAULTSORT:Druillet, Philippe Album-cover and concert-poster artists French comics artists French cartoonists French speculative fiction artists Artists from Toulouse Science fiction artists Living people 1944 births Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême winners Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres