Sylvain Francois
Welcome to the Artists Blog !!

1stAngel: When did you first become interested in art?

Sylvain: Like many artists, I have enjoyed various forms of art as a spectator. But I never really wanted to create anything until my girlfriend (now my fiancee and soon my wife!) started painting in 2000. I was so amazed at what she could express in a single image! Quickly, the desire to create something grew into me. I wanted to start photography but our budget at that time did not allow me to acquire the proper tools. I had to wait until 2006 to receive a dSLR for my birthday, from the very same person that got me interested into arts in the first place: my fiancee!

1stAngel: What style of art do you use most?

Sylvain: I must admit that I do not consciously choose a style over another. When I create an image, be it in photography or not, I simply don’t think. The composition, the colors, the angle, every parameter comes to me as if it was obvious. The beauty of the scene imposes itself and dictates my choices.

1stAngel: Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?

Sylvain: I don’t think so. I hope my technique has improved though!


Stations Of The Cross 2008 - sepia version

1stAngel: What medium do you use?

Sylvain: My dSLR mainly, a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi.

1stAngel: What made you choose that medium?

Sylvain: I’d rather say that photography chose me.

1stAngel: Do your ideas come from life or imagination?

Sylvain: From everything everywhere. I must admit that (usually) the images I prepare the most are the ones I like the less in the end. And of course the image that came from nowhere is the one I love!


Praying Little Angel

1stAngel: How do you choose your images and colours?

Sylvain: The image has to catch my attention strongly. This is particularly true when I look at the shots of a recent photo session for instance. I go through hundreds of shots, so you can imagine that each shot receive less than a second of attention (in the first place at least). But if I happen to stop for more than a few seconds on one particular image, then I know there is something special about it that deserves to be worked on and published. So I tag this picture for future processing, and go on through the rest of the shots. Again, I don’t think that I choose the picture, I’d rather say that the picture jumps at me!

1stAngel: Who is your favourite artist?

Sylvain: I particularly enjoy the pictures of photographers published by National Geographic. With their fantastic pictures, they manage to mix so many different themes from history to geography, from wildlife to society studies! I understand that National Geographic photographers are not usually refereed to as artists, but to my eyes they are amongst the best artists on Earth.

My favourite painters are probably impressionists, especially Claude Monet. But my tastes are very eclectic, and I enjoyed visiting various galleries such as the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Victor Vasarely foundation. The painting that impressed me the most is in the Louvre in Paris: La liberté guidant le peuple by Eugène Delacroix.

1stAngel: What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?

Sylvain: A photo of the Big Wheel in Manchester.


Big Wheel In Manchester

We were on holidays in England for Christmas. It was awfully rainy and cold, I could take almost no picture this day. You can imagine how frustrated I was! But the rain stopped for a few minutes, I took a few shots of the Big Wheel and it turned out so great that it is probably my most popular picture so far.

1stAngel: How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?

Sylvain: It can take anything from 1/200th second to several days to get an image ready to be published. Even then, it’s not complete: it can be worked on over and over, the only limit being your imagination and the time you are willing to spend on it!

1stAngel: How well do you take criticism?

Sylvain: Usually very badly in the first place =) but then I use it to look at my work in a different way, try to imagine what the spectator saw, and possibly make another image based on these comments.


Abstract 08031450201

1stAngel: What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?

Sylvain: I do something else: reading, sports, a walk in the forest, etc. Sometimes it lasts a few hours, sometimes a few months. I let it be, I adopt a kind of zen approach, without pressure. Sooner or later, the block goes aways and the creativity kicks in again.

1stAngel: How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?

Sylvain: In my mind, no image is ever finished. But yes, I find it easy to walk away, simply because I can’t wait to show it to other people, be it on Internet or in real life.

1stAngel: Have you had exhibits in galleries?

Sylvain: Only in virtual galleries!


Abstract 080309630

1stAngel: Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?

Sylvain: Not yet, but I would love to!

1stAngel: What are your plans for the future?

Sylvain: In the near future, I will keep on developing my online presence and building my collections. Once I have a decent quantity of images on various themes, I will try to present my work to galleries and hopefully do some exhibits. In the (very) long run, I have a bigger project for my fiancee and myself: quit our regular jobs and live our passion for art at 100%.

Sylvain, thank you so much for the interview. With reference to your favourite picture, I can assure you that it often rains in Manchester :) I should know, I live here!!

You can visit Sylvain at his galleries at http://zee.imagekind.com/
and here at http://flickr.com/photos/zee81/