Audrey Lainé, 3D animator and comic strip author

Both a 3D animator and comic book author, Audrey Lainé graduated from the 3D Character Animator course in 2015. On the animation side, she has worked on "Drôle de petites bêtes", "Spycies", "Samsam" and "Batwheels", and on the comics side on "Moi en Double", "Mal briefée', "Les Cœurs insolents" and "Petites leçons de permaculture".

I first worked as a 3D animator on the feature film "Drôles de petites Bêtes" byArnaud Bouron and Antoon Krings, then began illustrating my first graphic novel "Moi en Double", scripted by Navie, as soon as production was finished.

I then alternated between comics and animation projects, mainly for feature films ("Spycies", "Samsam") and advertising.

More recently, I worked on the "Batwheels" series produced by Superprod for Warner Bros.

"Batwheels" series by Antoine Charreyron

I'm lucky enough to be able to alternate between 3D animation and illustration, thanks to the breaks inherent in the world of animated film and the intermittent system. Sometimes there are several months between two animation projects. However, you have to remain flexible and manage your working hours well.

I've always been attracted to illustration, but I preferred to go into animation first, as it allowed me to mix drawing and movement work , while bringing the whole thing to life.

Today, this double role gives me the opportunity to move from a highly technical and structured profession to a more creative one in which I can enjoy greater freedom and autonomy.

"Mal briefée" comic strip written by Sophie Bergeot and illustrated by Audrey Lainé

A bit by chance! Navie, the scriptwriter of "Moi en double", asked me to illustrate her story for Delcourt publishing just a few months after I'd started my first job as a 3D animator. Having never worked in the comics world, I initially thought it was a bad joke.

Turns out I'd been spotted by Marion Amirgagnan, the project's editor, thanks to my student blog, which mainly contained my portfolio and live model drawings.

I was terrified and convinced that I didn't have what it takes to make comics, but the kindness and guidance of my two collaborators made the project run particularly smoothly.

After this first publication, one illustration project followed another, in particular with Sophie Chédru, the editor who accompanied me on the three albums that followed at Marabulles.

"Spycies" film directed by Guillaume Ivernel

Not particularly! But it's true that my comic book collaborations, both in terms of the writers I've worked with and the editors, have been exclusively female.

Some projects have a biographical and relatively intimate aspect for the scriptwriters, so it was probably easier to call on other women to tell these stories with confidence.

Probably the graphic novel "Les Cœurs Insolents", scripted by Ovidie, in which certain sequences involving sexual violence were particularly difficult to tackle. It sometimes took me several weeks before I could storyboard them, knowing that these scenes were taken from Ovidie's own experience.

But I loved working on this album, especially the color, which was done entirely in ink.

"Les Coeurs insolents" graphic novel written by Ovidie and illustrated by Audrey Lainé

I'm currently working on the 3rd Asterix 3D feature film, "Asterix and the Kingdom of Nubia", directed by Alexandre Heboyan (computer graphics animator, class of 2004) at the Superprod studios in Paris.

I certainly enjoy telling stories and bringing characters to life. More generally, I appreciate the mix of technical and artistic aspects of my two activities.

I really like the very analytical relationship with movement that we have in animation, and I try to transpose it to comics with a fairly dynamic drawing style and a cut-out that comes out of the boxes.

Mostly Annecy ! At the time, the 3D Animator course was still held in the hills above the town, near the castle. Every day, we had a view of the lake and mountains.

The living environment was particularly pleasant, even if the town isn't very student-friendly.

Seize the opportunities that present themselves andbe passionate about whatyou do. The animation professions are demanding, requiring a lot of personal involvement (sometimes even too much: we tend to forget that it's just a job).

And I would add, don 't listen to your impostor syndrome, which never lurks far away!