His style is very personal and are influenced by fashion illustration, commercial design and street art. He is exploring his unconscious depths without knowing it at times. To find inspiration and enrich his mind Raphaël is reading books, watching movies and looking at inspirational art.
Usually, but not always, he has the idea written down, a few words or a phrase which give him direction for the whole illustration – it’s just a way for him to vector the process into a definite direction. But he always leaves the door open for new influences which can enrich the basic idea he had. He really lets what comes through his mind go into the illustration.
It has a lot to do with how I try to mix my different influences into something more personal. I really loved fashion illustration and watercolours, but I thought that it was missing something to off-balance the first layer of interpretation, so naturally I added words which would start to tell something else about the image. It’s a way to add layers to my illustrations, but everyone can pick out what they see or not in my image. It’s also a very subconscious thing, really.
