Johan Papin’s illustrations pull at our heartstrings. Character-driven and pastel-colored, his work will introduce softness to your Instagram feed. A jack of all trades, after graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in 2006, he studied animation at the Pivaut school in Nantes, France. He then went on to work with various studios on animated kids shows. During this time he developed skills in character design, animation, compositing, and directing.
“Drawing is something I’ve always done since I was a kid but long story short, I studied and worked in animation for a while and moved into illustration in the past few years,” he explained in an interview with Illustrators’ Lounge. “I feel much more comfortable in this particular creative field.”
In 2013, Papin along with six friends formed MessieursDame – a collective of illustrators, animators, and directors based in Paris. While working on various individual and collective projects, he describes this as the perfect environment to develop his career as an illustrator. “Being part of this was most certainly a turning point in my career and one of the best decisions I’ve made,” he says. “I learned that taking risks can be rewarding, that being independent is something that is truly crucial for me, that being surrounded by talented people is a blessing and with friends is even better.”
Now based in Montreal, he looks for new adventures both online and offline. “I decided six months ago to start a new adventure in Montreal and it was absolutely heartbreaking to leave this place,” he admits.
Follow his illustrated adventures on Instagram:
