Guy Billout
Updated: Sep 22
Academy of Art University | Friday, May 20, 2022 |
Instructor: Dr. William Kloepfer Class: GLA 629 OL1 | Assignment: 14.2 Final Paper Student: A. Aljoheri |
Title: U.S. IMMIGRATION: STEMMING THE TIDE. Artist: Guy Billout (American, born in France, 1941). Date: 1982. Medium: Gouache and ink on board. | Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine. Dimensions: 27.9 x 20.3cm (11 x 8“) |
Guy Billout Born in 1941
The Highly Decorated French Artist & Illustrator.
He is a painter and a stuntman with clean, precise, modern, and impressive art. His illustrations are among the most mind-blowing, sometimes because of their realism and sometimes because they are against the mind. From his point of view, all people are ignorant and perhaps this view is what allowed him to unleash his imagination and draw with absolute freedom and dazzle us with each of his unique drawings, and he also has funny drawings that challenge physics and logic. Most impressive of all, he was not born into an artistic family. His father was a journalist and his mother was a bookseller. He is the contemporary French illustrator and painter Guy Rene Billout.
His Life
Guy Billout was born in a small town in the center of France on July 7, 1941, where he had a conventional education. He studied art because of his ability in drawing and advertising at the Ecole des Arts Appliqués of Beaune, in the Burgundy region in the 1950s. After his graduation in 1962, he moved to Paris and worked for the advertising agency, Publicis as a graphic designer for four years. Then he made the most important choice in his life he moved to New York City in 1969 and begin a career as a full-time illustrator with a portfolio of 12 illustrations, published in New York Magazine. He lives with his wife Linda in Southern Connecticut.
The strangest thing about his story is that when he came to New York he was scheduled to introduce himself as a graphic designer, however, some friends had another opinion that he wasn’t an exceptional designer and they recommended him to become an illustrator instead. Where he applied their wonderful advice and became one of the greatest illustrators of all.
There are three artists who became his heroes since he entered art school, and here, they are Raymond Savignac, André François, and Ronald Searle.
Title: Three Children on the Ice
(Image of Edition 98/300) on artsy.net from Washington Color Gallery, Bethesda
Artist: Guy Billout
Date: 1990
Medium: Serigraph, on BFK Rives white wove paper
Dimensions: 27 × 20 1/2 in
68.6 × 52.1 cm
His Artworks
Billout made annual reports, corporate brochures, advertisements, children's books, and more as a freelancer. His first work was assigned by art director Bob Ciano at Redbook Magazine in 1969. His early illustrations were done with watercolors. Later, in his career, he used airbrushes to create a smooth gradient. Now, he is using Adobe Photoshop as a medium to create digital illustrations.
Title: Sheriff's Shadow
Artist: Guy Billout
Medium: Watercolor, airbrush, pen, and ink on paper
Size: 19.1 x 13.3 cm. (7.5 x 5.2 in.)
Title: America's Upbeat Mood
Artist: Guy Billout
Date: 1984
Medium: Watercolor on board
Dimensions: 29.5cm x 22.6cm (11 5/8" x 8 7/8“)
Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine
Title: Quadrature Artist/Maker: Guy Billout Date: 1998 Medium: Watercolor and airbrush on paper Dimensions: 23.7 × 17.1 cm (9 5/16 × 6 3/4 in.) | Place: United States (Place Created) Culture: American Object Number: 98.GC.171 Copyright: © Guy Billout |
Two Santas (External Link)
watercolor and airbrush on paper,
28.2 x 24.4 cm / 11.1 x 9.6 in
Hiatus (External Link)
watercolor and airbrush on paper,
29.4 x 22.3 cm / 11.6 x 8.8 in
His books
Billout was given freedom in editorial works at The Atlantic Monthly magazine for 24 years. As a writer, he wrote the first children’s book in 1973, followed by many books with different titles like:
1979: By Camel or by Car: A Look at Transportation
1980: Stone & Steel: A Look at Engineering
1981: Thunderbolt & Rainbow: A Look at Greek Mythology
1992: Journey
1998: Bus 24
2002: Something's Not Quite Right
2007: The frog who wanted to see the sea
2007: Breakthrough Thinking: Brainstorming for Inspiration and Ideas
His Performances and Appearances
1998: The BFB gallery, Paris.
2002: Médiathèque Jean Jaurès, Nevers, France
2003: Palais Ducal de Nevers, France.
2006: Centre Culturel de Decize, France.
2012: Petits Papiers gallery, Paris.
2015: An Girard gallery, Paris.
2016: Ecole Estienne, Paris.
His Awards
Three Gold Medals and three Silver Medals.
In 1989, he was awarded the prestigious Society of Illustrators with its honor, the Hamilton King Award in 2013, and inducted into the hits Hall of Fame in 2016.
Conclusion
We are very fortunate to have lived in the age of this wonderful artist and to see his talent giving us the most beautiful illustrations of all time.
REFERENCES
Society of Illustrators: https://societyillustrators.org/award-winners/guy-billout/
Parsons School of Design: https://www.newschool.edu/parsons/faculty/guy-billout/
Washington Color Gallery https://washingtoncolor.com/artist/billout/
American Illustration - American Photography (AI-AP) https://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/13698/illustrator-profile-guy-billout-i-see-myself-a.html
Guy Billout’s works, shared on MARGARETHE HUBAUER, International Illustration, website. https://www.margarethe-illustration.com/guy-billout.html