Damien Géminard – “I hope one day my videos will help other artists”

A creative journey with Damien Géminard

This week Creative Chair is in Quebec, Cannada, where we’re taking to the multi-talented Damien Géminard.

Damien has a background in design and illustration, and more recently his focus has shifted to digital painting and concept art. For the latter, he often shares timelapses of the projects from start to finish.

You can see a lot more from Damien Géminard on his website and Artstation.

Tell us a little more about yourself and what you do?

My name is Damien Géminard, I am a French graphic designer & Illustrator based to Canada for one year now. I left abroad with my wife and children to live a new experience. This is really new for us, we left a small French village for a big city in Canada. it is really useful for all the family to know another culture; another way to live. The change has been radical.

You’ve worked in design, illustration, UI, and digital painting. What came first and which discipline to you enjoy the most?

Yeah, I worked and I continue to work in different disciplines. I started as a graphic designer in a print agency where I made different stuff. The most interesting thing was to make stickers for vehicles, it was really fun.

Some years after, I decided to leave the agency to increase my UI design skills and work on my own projects to develop icons packs and UI elements for mobile devices.

As a freelancer, I worked on many styles of projects, it is the best part of job.

For two years now, I am focused on digital painting (Illustration & Concept Art) Jobs. It is the goal that I have set myself. It is always good to have a goal, it pushes you to go ahead.

I had a luck to find my first contract as a concept artist in Montréal for a show agency. It is a good experience for the first.

Digital painting is undoubtedly the discipline I like the most.

What has been your most rewarding personal project?

The most rewarding personal project was my frenchitouch.fr website. It is difficult to keep your head up when you are alone to make all about the project. Website, icons packs, UI elements, social network management, customers management, marketing, trailer videos…certainly the project which asked me the most investment.

With your digital paintings, you often share your process via a time-lapse. How long does something like ‘Ghost Coast’ take to complete, and why do you choose to share the process?

Ghost Coast took me 7 hours, but the range is large. It takes me between 6 and more than 20 hours to have a finalised piece (24hrs for Dark mood painting). It depends on my motivation and of the render I want.

I like to share my time-lapse, it became normal to share your own work on social media today. Many artists share their process, I think it is a good way to show how the final art can be made from zero and It’s always instructive to see how the artists use their tools.

It helped me to have some basic ideas and how to use technics. I hope one day my videos will help other artists.

And finally, if you died and got reincarnated as a song, what would that song be?

After my death, I would like to be reincarnated not as a song but more as an animated movie like Studio Ghibli’s works. It will fit better with my artist soul.