This French artist creates intricate drawings from the dining table in his Bordeaux apartment, with the unassuming ballpoint. Ramsha Vistro finds out more
Louis Gibiard’s love for drawing began before the age of five, whilst living in a Russian orphanage. “It all started with this little toy car on the table. I saw a pen next to it and I felt an urge to draw.” But he quickly realised it was more difficult than he anticipated, describing it as a fun challenge.
After being adopted by his French parents, it took him “about two years to start drawing more regularly. I remember that my friends and I used to create comics: drawing superheroes and sci-fi robots. When I turned 10, I started making more complex drawings, leaning towards realism and still life sketches; drawing different objects laying around my room. This is when I began to take it more seriously; I was drawing all the time, I was obsessed,” he recalls.
School, on the other hand, was not Louis’ strong suit. In fact, he “hated it. I finished school early and stopped right before university. I specialised in English and Literature, so I didn’t have any science-related classes, which was a blessing. As soon as I quit school, I went on to make art full-time and haven’t stopped since.”
A few years ago, Louis worked from a tiny studio inside a small building that his father used as his office: essentially a box room with a desk; which was just “a sheet of glass mounted on trestles.” Since then, Louis has upgraded to the five-legged, wooden dining table in his fifth-floor apartment, which he shares with two housemates. His ‘desk’ is situated in the middle of the open-plan living area – also a home gym – surrounded by windows which look out to a “decent” view of the city of Bordeaux when the electric blinds are up. But that isn’t enough to entice Louis to ever work en plein air as he’d “rather stay at home and work at my own pace.”
Unlike most artists, Louis isn’t an early riser. He wakes at two in the afternoon, getting straight to work after he’s had his ‘breakfast’ and tends to work through the night until 7am. “I don’t like working in daylight as I make videos of the process and for that, I like to have as much control over the lighting as possible.” His ability to focus on his work, however, depends on his mood. “If I’m doing fine, I can easily work until I go to sleep in the morning but if I’m feeling down, I do something else to keep me occupied.” This includes anything from 3D rendering or admin, to learning
