As she prepares
to hibernate like a mother bear with her very first child, a daughter due in
November, Geneviève Godbout answered our personal and not-so-personal questions
about her fairy tale journey.
First of all,
Geneviève can you tell us about the important milestones that have marked your
career?
First, I studied animation in Montreal and then in
Paris, where I lived for a year before moving to London for the next seven years.
That’s where I got my job as a character
artist at Disney Consumer Products. I was responsible for the Winnie
the Pooh and Company franchise, which includes characters from Bambi and the
Aristocats, among others. I liked the path I was following in this field, but
it was while creating illustrations on the side that I really found my place.
The more I did, the more I developed my network of contacts. I created my first
books while I was still working at Disney. I illustrated the album Joseph Fipps while I was in London. I even had the chance to meet the editor
and the author who were travelling through England. That was my debut in the
publishing world.
In 2012, an agent from New York contacted me to
represent me in the American market. It was too good to be true! Ten years
later, she is still by my side! Thanks to her, illustration became my full-time
job. In 2013, I left everything in London and moved back to Montreal. I was 28
years old.
What did you
learn from your years at Disney?
Animation and Disney have provided me with a lot of
technique and consistency in my drawings. I have perfected my ability to create
movement and intent in my characters. I had to replicate the drawings of
well-known characters to perfection, so it was very precise, conforming work. I
am very grateful to have had this corporate experience with excellent working
conditions. However, I was not happy and would have died a slow death had I
continued.
You make a
living from your art, illustration. Describe your world to us…
I try to evoke comfort and kindness through my
drawings, without becoming namby-pamby.
The books I work on are a kind of soft haven where children and parents can
take refuge. I like nostalgia, without it being too sad. A nostalgia that makes
you smile. My universe is downright feminine and childlike.
What do you do
to cultivate inspiration and creativity?
I could answer that travelling or observing the
humans around me is stimuli, but I firmly believe that the real work comes from
within. I have never come back from a trip with an idea for an exhibition or a
book. I have to feel good on the inside and do it with intention.
It is not always easy. During the first year of the
pandemic, I threw myself into my work. Too much so. At one point, I got bored.
I didn’t know why I was doing what I was doing, and I was doing it almost
compulsively. I began to feel a disconnect with my work. So, in the last few
months, I took a step back to redefine what I really wanted to do… It’s a
passion job and you have to keep the flame alive! I became pregnant just as I
started to let go, just as I wanted to experiment in a different way.
What does your
workspace look like?
Working from home doesn’t work for me. I don’t have
enough rooms, I had to rent a space. For eight years now, I have had a
workspace at one of my publishers, La Pastèque. It’s a very
stimulating environment. My office neighbours are Michel Rabagliati and
Isabelle Arsenault.
What is your
creative process? What environment do you immerse yourself in for your work?
I am very intuitive. I start by throwing out ideas,
looking for colours, inspirations and then I draw until I feel that it
clicks.
Tell us about
your experience with Demain Demain…
This collaboration benefits me a lot because I have complete freedom to create what I like: it is both complex and super exciting. For the Marigold collection, I experimented a lot. I started over, I threw a lot away until it fit a feminine aesthetic that wasn’t childish and yet still felt like me. As always, nostalgia is present, it’s how I dress and it’s also what my home decor looks like: one foot in today and one foot in the past.
I also had a lot of fun with the Mon Jardin collection for Demain Demain. I had carte blanche. Drawing
the little girl with the plants really changed my drawing style for my next
book Wherever you’ll be (to be
published in French by La Pastèque in spring 2022). Working with various
colours and the way the characters are portrayed has really given my work a
different flavour.
Demain Demain gives me time to
explore, to try things differently. This collaboration allows me to continue to
work with patterns, but within a project that fits with my values. I love the
range of quality products that are created from my illustrations.
When we look at
all the projects you are working on, we can see that you are very productive.
Would you say that, with experience, you have become faster over the years?
I don’t think I’ve improved my time. My technique is
too slow. It’s almost meditative. I’m not faster, but I work a lot. That’s why
I took my foot off the pedal this past year.
We know that
the publishing world is not the most lucrative and not everyone can make a
living from their illustrations. Would you say that you are one of the
privileged ones who manages to live well from it?
I am indeed one of the privileged ones. The reason? I
also work in the United States and English Canada. Budgets are up to 10 times
higher than here. Of course, I still do books in Quebec for publishers that I
like, but it doesn’t pay much. Our market is small. There is a lot of work
being done to promote Quebec books in the market, but Quebec illustrators can
hardly make a living from it.
Finally, can
you tell us what’s coming up for you in 2022?
Besides becoming a mother to my little girl, I have
some great book projects that I’m going to let simmer. I want to let these
projects sink in before I start working on them. Next summer, an exhibition of
my work (including the originals I drew for Demain Demain) will be held at a gallery in Los Angeles that often showcases
artists from the illustration and animation community. I am very excited about
this premiere!
A FEW QUICK
QUESTIONS
Who is your
favourite illustrator?
I cannot name just one person. It’s horrible! Of
course, I have to mention Isabelle Arsenault, but also Emmanuelle Walker, who
comes from Montreal and lives in London. She will soon be releasing a book from
La Pastèque. What she does is very graphic. It’s always cool to discover
someone else’s view of the world through their drawings. I would also mention
Matt Forsythe and Christian Robinson in the U.S.; I have read pretty much all
their books.
A children’s
book that made an impression on you?
I had a huge crush on Une maman, c’est comme une maison by Aurore Petit. It is so touching and so beautiful that
it makes you want to cry. It’s a contemplative book about what it’s like to be
a mom from a child’s perspective. I offer it to everyone who is expecting a
child. It spoke to me even before I was a mom. Oh, how beautiful!
Her books:
Joyeux Noël, Anne !
Rose à petits pois
Malou
Si je n’étais pas Anne
Quand le père Noël était petit
Where to find her creations:
Demain Demain
Web Site
Etsy
Instagram
Sur ton mur