Benjamin Chaud

France

Benjamin Chaud

Benjamin Chaud was born in Briançon in the Hautes-Alpes and he studied drawing and applied arts at the Arts Appliqués in Paris and the Arts Décoratifs in Strasbourg. He's worked with numerous publishers including Albin Michel and Actes Sud, and his award-winning books have been translated into over twenty languages.

In this post, Benjamin talks about the creation of ‘Une chanson d'ours’ (The Bear's Song). This richly illustrated picturebook was originally published in French by Hélium, and has been translated into many languages including English, Russian, Polish and Dutch.

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Benjamin: It all started with this poster I created for an opera called ‘La maison est en carton’ (The house is made of cardboard)...

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – an illustration for an opera called 'La maison est en carton' (The house is made of cardboard)

As well as being an image for on opera, it was also about the birth of my first child. I really liked working on this image and I wanted to create more images like it.

I proposed to Sophie Giraud, the editor of Hélium, that I create a book with these kinds of images and she said, "alright, create something like ‘Where's Wally?’ in opera with a papa kangaroo and his little kangaroo" (in the same way that I always carried my baby around in a sling)...

I don't like drawing kangaroos, so I drew bears, which I feel closer to as far as animals go – and I went on to recount what it's like being a dad.

Development work by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

As I really liked making this book and it was mostly well-received, I have since made a second one. And as I just had my second child, I continued with the adventures of papa bear in a third book which is quite autobiographical.

Book covers by Benjamin Chaud

For ‘The Bear's Song’, I didn't really know if I was capable of doing it, and I didn't think I'd enjoy creating images with so much detail – but once I got started, I began to slowly enjoy myself.

I started by making tiny sketches. To work out the composition, I imagined situations and people, and then tried to put it all down on paper – a bit like doing a puzzle.

Development work by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Development work by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Development work by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

I've always liked to create imaginary worlds. It's a bit like being God and being able to decide all that happens – I have a lot of patience for that. But sometimes I ask myself, "What possessed me to make a book with so many people and details?"... and then I draw someone I know, doing something silly in the corner of a page, and I end up laughing to myself over my work.

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

It's impossible for me to imagine so many characters, so I draw friends, family members or famous people. This helps me a lot; knowing that they actually exist allows me to know how they move, what they do, how they're dressed... and I make them all star in my made-up movie.

For this book, it was very important to make myself laugh while drawing, otherwise I don't know whether I would have had the courage to finish the images.

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

I had to really simplify the colours all the way to the bare essentials. There's so much detail in the images, I couldn't add realistic colours to the characters because it would have taken too much time to do so, and the image would have become illegible. And this turned out for the best, as it allowed me to stylise my work and find strong colour guidelines – something that I still don't always accomplish in my work.

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Illustration by Benjamin Chaud – from 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song'

Illustrations © Benjamin Chaud. Post translated by Gengo and edited by dPICTUS.

Front cover for 'Une chanson d’ours / The Bear’s Song' by Benjamin Chaud – published by Hélium EditionsBuy the English edition

Une chanson d'ours / The Bear's Song

Benjamin Chaud
Hélium Editions, France, 2011

A richly illustrated, immersive picturebook about two bears on a big-city adventure.

Papa Bear is searching for Little Bear, who has escaped the den. Little Bear is following a bee, because where there are bees, there is honey! When the quest leads both bears into the bustling city and a humming opera house, theatrical hijinks ensue, culminating in a deliciously harmonious reunion.

A New York Times Notable Children's Book.

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