Marine’s life in motion
Marine Buffard has many talents, including illustration and motion, which we're completely obsessed with. She finds inspiration in the small details of her everyday Parisian life, and glorifies them through brilliant, poetic animations. Her unique style is defined by the use of fine black lines mixed with soft, diffuse colors that are good for the soul. Learn more about her creative process and vision.
Could you tell us about yourself?
Hi, I am a Paris based illustrator and media studies researcher trying to find beauty and magic into the mundane small ordinary things of our daily lives.
How about your artistic background? Since when have you been drawing?
I have been drawing since as young as I can remember as most kids do: I just never stopped. Regarding the most academic part of my creative journey: I studied in several art and design schools in Paris. ESAA Duperré School of Applied art being the one which had the strongest impact on how I envision the overall creative process from plastic experimentation to artistic self-expression. I really did learn a lot there and enjoyed this school very much.
Could you tell us about your instagram account name? Are you always a morning person?
Well I am still not a morning person to this day. I do wake up earlier in the morning but my creativity and productivity is still peaking in the afternoon and in the evening. I am still a night owl even if I have come to appreciate the early morning quietness and stillness. My Instagram account used to be a secret journaling account where I documented my daily life via animated diary entries that I drew in the morning while drinking my coffee when I tried to implement a new routine with the goal of becoming a morning person during the pandemic. I just kept this username :)
What is the process that lies behind your motion designs?
There are two distinct processes. The first one being quite classic: I have an inspiration or a brief and I know from the start what I want to draw and animate. I just have to draw the frames, frame by frame until I have the expected or imagined result. The second one is more organic: I draw a frame, I see where it leads me, frame after frame. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, sometimes it takes several tries, sometimes it’s surprising and the result is quite far from what I would have had imagined in the beginning. I have been very lucky to have clients who trusted me sometimes to keep this process.
What is it you like so much about motion rather than print or static illustrations?
I love how it can convey a mood, an ambiance, tell a story in a very compelling way. Sure it’s about composition, style, colours, textures but also temporality, movements and transitions. I also think that static illustrations are harder to make: you have all the time to sit there and contemplate the drawing, the texture, the colours. It’s less forgivable that a moving image which can distract you by its motion.
Could you tell us about the work you’re the most proud of?
The work I am the proudest of is without any hesitation the animated short film I art directed for Eglė Davidavičė called The One Who Knows and which will premiere soon! Both the story and Egle’s vision are beautiful, the team I worked with is amazingly talented and there is something very special to be able to make a story into a movie (even if short). The materiality of the story, the motion, the sound-design, the music, the textures… everything comes together to bring its sensitivity to life which easily makes you forget the amount of work, the variety of skills needed and the many people who worked very hard in order to make it happen. It’s quite magical. I am also very proud of the animations I did for the Washington Post x Headspace as there were a very beautiful energy between the art director and myself (I believe you can see that in the animations). And very proud of the campaign I directed for Hermès China which definitely brought me outside of my comfort zone, was a lot of fun to imagine and animate, and resulted into something that I am very happy and proud of.
What are your main sources of inspiration?
I find a lot of inspiration in the ordinary daily life. I also love magical realism (from movies to paintings and books) and take a lot of inspiration from this specific current. I like that the image or scenery reminds you of something very common, almost boring even, but there is something a bit odd (maybe it’s a detail, a movement or a colour) which is definitely disturbing your perception of what is real and what is not.
What’s your relation to Nature and flowers?
As most Parisians (and people who lived most of their lives in big cities) I crave nature a lot. I find calmness, serenity and simplicity in nature. When I am stressed or feel overwhelmed, a walk in nature really helps. Even when I was a broke student I used to buy or to pick flowers here and there to bring more nature into my home. I have always loved flowers, plants and animals. All the living things which remind you that you are part of a whole and that this scary deadline is socially manufactured and actually not that important in regard to life itself. It helps to put things into perspective I believe.
What is your favorite flower and why?
My favourite flowers are the ones of the begonia plant. I love those small pink flowers growing together almost as a pattern. They are very soft and yet displayed in an almost geometrical way. It’s my favourite flower because it’s an easy way to have fresh flowers always with you. My begonia flourishes almost all year long so it’s the guarantee to have fresh flowers with you everyday.
Here’s a small portrait chinois:
If you were a flower, you’d be a begonia flower,
if you were a insect, you’d be the neon blue fireflies next to the pond near my house,
if you were a tree, you’d be a fiddle tree,
if you were a season, you’d be a summer on the Mediterranean coast,
if you were a color, you’d be a meadow green,
if you were a place, you’d be a small garden with a lot of sunlight.
Any news coming up soon?
The One Who Knows premiering soon <3
Motion illustrations, illustrations & pictures Marine Buffard