MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Viktor shares pages from his Moleskine, which have become hugely popular on Instagram
“I started the Moleskine thing when I moved to Paris. I didn’t speak a word of French, so the TV sucked and I was renting a place in the middle of the city, surrounded by non-stop parties. But I felt super inspired by the city. There are so many beautiful people walking the streets. Not just women, but really handsome guys. It’s a melting pot of the entire world.
I would just come from work, get some wine and cheese, and open my windows and look at down on the streets, all the people walking. Paris came in with all the noises and smells and yelling. And I’d just sit on a giant armchair and draw. And it became a habit.
They’re just pure fun. They’re about the moment that I’m experiencing while drawing, the interesting people that I see, the memories I have from the day. Sometimes I have a solid idea. Sometimes I don’t. It’s all about starting. I don’t do thumbnails or sketches. I just go.
Here’s some advice for young artists: you should be able to get rid of parts of your drawings that are dragging everything else down. If I don’t like the way the drawing is going, I erase everything and start again. I’d rather not draw than leave something half-assed.
I decided to try to start posting them on Instagram. There was no plan, no campaign, nothing. It was just me posting stuff. And that’s it. I’m drawing because I have the need to draw, and I like the act of doing it.”
not, he starts in Photoshop or Sketchup. He uses more references for characters with tricky poses – usually images online, or a family member. In a pinch, he’ll hire a model. Deadline permitting, he lets the piece “rest” for at least a few days, ideally a week, then looks at it again with fresh eyes.
TRUE COLOURS
While living in California, Victor’s wife paid for art classes in an attempt to fix his problem with colour. It didn’t work and he quit the class. But the company persuaded him to go to a free seminar on colour. Viktor reluctantly agreed. The lecturer was a man with a “kind face and big moustache.” But Viktor’s insecurities made him arrogant and angry. The lecturer showed his own painting of a house with a red roof and white chimney, green trees, blue sky. Viktor couldn’t have been more bored. The lecturer went into a speech about how light hits the red roof and bounces of the white chimney, and the green tress do this, and the blue sky does that.
“I started sinking in my chair,” Viktor says. “Deeper, deeper, deeper… I was having a kind of rebirth: I suddenly got it. Suddenly, everything made sense. I realised how small and pathetic I was for acting the way I was acting a few seconds ago.” Viktor was too embarrassed to talk to the lecturer on his way out. “The guy probably thought I was a real asshole, but he changed my life.”
Viktor has since received two nomination for two Eisner awards, for both his cover and colour work. He’s published two book showcasing everything he’s learned: INSPIRE and It’s Personal, and is about to start teaching a class through Schoolism on drawing characters.
Viktor is a great storyteller. He’s also had a lot of unique jobs in art. So it seems only fitting to end this article with some good advice it’s taken him a lifetime to learn. “The unhealthy ego focuses on being things: being right, or being the winner, or being rich, or being famous. The healthy ego is about doing things. “Let’s say you have a whole person to draw. Start tiny. Try not to think: ‘Oh my god, I’m going to screw up the hand, and everybody’s going to think I suck because I can’t draw hands.’ You
The unhealthy ego focuses on being things: being right, rich or famous. The healthy ego is about doing things
focus on drawing a great hand. You continue – the arm, the areas that are easier, and you start having fun, and then, at the end of the day, you have a figure… a drawing you’re proud of. And that drawing represents the best that you can do in that particular moment in time. If you keep doing that, what’s going to happen is behind you there’s going to be a trail of objects, of products, of things of value that represent the best you can do.”