Benjamin Lacombe

Benjamin Lacombe is another French illustrator I discovered in France. I immediately fell in love with his rich, moody, and vibrant stylized gouache illustrations. When we were in Aix en Provenence, I was thrilled to find his children's picture book, "Les Amants Papillons" ("Butterfly Lovers") in a small book shop. The book is written in French, of which I only know a few words, but the illustrations are a sumptuous blend of color, drama, and design. The book is large, 15½" x 7" which is quite large by picture book standards. This allows for the full intensity of Benjamin's gorgeous illustrations with full spreads on many pages. Since this book is probably difficult to find in the US, here are some other titles he illustrated that are available on Amazon: "Lin Yi's Lantern" and " Cherry and Olive". You can see his work at his very creative website www.BenjaminLacombe.com



Check back for more posts on fantastic illustrators and their work!

Rebecca Dautremer

I first saw Rébecca Dautremer's illustrations in a small shop in Paris when my husband and I were visiting Paris for the very first time. My husband was attending a conference and I tagged along since I had never been there. While he attended his meetings, I took every opportunity to browse book stores and children's books for French illustrators. Boy, did I find some wonderful illustrators! I fell in love with Rébecca's work and have looked for her books here in the US ever since then.

A few weeks ago I found her illustrations in "The Secret Lives of Princesses" written by Philippe Lechermeier. What a feast of color, design and style flows through this picture book! She creates her beautiful illustrations in gouache and has been illustrating books for over 10 years. Rebecca uses unusual views and every spread has such striking contrast with her color palette. Check out this book if you have a chance.. it is completely captivating. Also check out her website which has many more gorgeous illos.