Interview| The Black & White of LAXXXXXXXXXXX

Did you say Gustave Doré makes manga?

LAXXXXXXXXXXX is an artist like no other. First of all, you have to find his accounts on his social networks, which is part of the mystery surrounding his work. He has only been online for a short time, and yet his creations are all more crazy than the others. His sense of detail is crazy, juggling between inspiring classics like Jerome Bosch, to Mike Mignola or Kentaro Miura.

LAXXXXXXXXXXX was kind enough to take some of his precious time to answer a few questions and come back with him on his creative process and his different inspirations. Attention, it marks the retinas!

LAXXXXXXXXXXX’s Networks

Twitter | Instagram

1/ Can you tell us a little about yourself, your background and what made you choose art as a career?

My name is LAXXXXXXXXX. I’ve been drawing for a few years now in self-taught mode, so the Internet is my main teacher. This includes the people I met on the Internet who taught me a lot, especially a broken guy who, despite that, taught me the hard way (he’ll recognize himself). I’m just trying to make beautiful drawings.

2/ We can feel a lot of different inspirations in your work: engraving, fantasy literature, nature… Can you tell us more about your influences and inspirations?

I think you have the wrong recipient, because I haven’t even come close to printmaking or literature yet, especially since I’ve never opened a novel before, since I can’t read. 

 

3/ How would you describe yourself as an artist ? What is your philosophy about art?

An artist ? Me? It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that one!

Actually, I draw all the things I like and that go through my mind, and that’s it. I don’t think I have a particular philosophy, at least not for the moment.

4/ You work on different forms of mediums, to make illustrations, comics and character design. And yet, it gives the impression that all your creations are part of the same universe. Is this intentional on your part?

It’s not intentional on my part. It’s a personal interpretation I think. I think that on Instagram for example, it’s more diverse than on Twitter, where I’m still new. But I can understand that feeling.

5/ Your working technique is amazingly precise in my opinion. Can you explain us a little more your way of working ?

I think this precision is due to the tools I use and also to the fact that I work essentially in traditional.

6/ What would be your dream project ?

I don’t have a dream project yet, but it’s true that a small collaboration with someone like Jerome Bosch would be quite interesting! Or other artists of the same caliber.

8/ What is your favorite work in your portfolio and why does it resonate with you so much?

One of my favorite pieces of work is an illustration that I haven’t shared publicly yet. This one in particular, I don’t know why, but I linger on it longer than the others.

9/ What are your current projects… and your future projects ?

Something is currently in the works, but for the moment I can’t say more than that about it. So more on that in the next episode!

In short:

Before I answer, I want to make it clear that none of this is fixed. I’m always waiting to discover something new, so anything new is likely to make an impression on me and enter the “favorites”. So the works and artists mentioned are malleable over time. Tastes change with discoveries.

What is your favorite film? 

I watch a lot of films, various and varied, and I like them all the same. If I absolutely had to name some, I would say that I particularly liked Satoshi Kon’s work. I could also talk about Bong Joon-ho. But there are so many nuggets!

What is your favorite comic/bd/manga? 

So many legendary authors exist. I got into comics very late, so I unfortunately don’t have a favorite work to name yet. Otherwise, as for comics, I started quite late. I can still name artists such as James Harren or Mike Mignola, or the works of Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido.

Concerning manga, I think of the works of Takehiko Inoue, Shinichi Sakamoto or Masasumi Kakizaki, but there are so many others that I love! If I were to quote everything, it would take my whole life, but unfortunately I have to go and do the dishes.

Your favorite video game? 

So much time spent in game rooms… Too much time spent! I would have so many games to list that there aren’t enough characters to support it all.

Your favorite book? 

Due to the fact that I can’t read, I’ve never finished a novel.