Artists

JOSÉE BISAILLON combines collage, drawing, and digital montage to create richly detailed, colorful illustrations that are full of life. She has illustrated numerous novels, a multitude of print articles, and more than 20 children’s books. Josée has won many awards for her work, including Applied Arts, American Illustration, and Society of Illustrators New York. She was also shortlisted for the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award in 2008 for The Emperor’s Second-Hand Clothes, written by Anne Millyard, and in 2010 for Le Funambule, written by Marie-Danielle Croteau. Her illustrations have appeared in The Globe & Mail, L’actualité, Harvard Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and The Wall Street Journal Asia Edition. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

PASCALE BONENFANT uses drawing, collage, watercolors and sometimes screenprinting to create her playful works of art. In the last few years her work has appeared in a wide range of publications and exhibitions, including more than a dozen books. Her first book, Le parapluie jaune, written by Lili Chartrand and published by La courte echelle, won third prize in the prestigious Concours Lux 2011 (Livre Jeunesse). Originally from Rimouski, Canada, Pascale now teaches Graphic Design in Quebec City. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

Inspired by silkscreen printing and other traditional printing methods, SOPHIE CASSON’S illustrations are rich in color and texture. Sophie was a finalist for the 2011 Governor General’s Award (Children’s Literature – Illustration), and has won many awards both in Canada and the United States. Her most recent children’s books include: Au lit, Moka!, En piste, Moka!, Quelle pagaille!, and Quelle journée!, all written by Danielle Marcotte and Laurence Aurélie. Her work has appeared in a wide range of magazines including Businessweek, The New York Times, Canadian Business, The Globe and Mail, Châtelaine and L’actualité. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

CATHON has stood out as an exceptional illustrator and writer since her first fanzine, Trois secondes plus vite, was nominated for a Prix Bédélys Indépendent in 2011. Since then, having completed her BA in Visual and Media Arts at UQAM, she has been dedicated to creating comic books and illustrations. Cathon is the co-author of La liste des choses qui existent (La Pastèque, 2013) and Vampire Cousins (Éditions Pow Pow, 2014, nominated for a Prix Bédélys) and is the author of Les Ennuis de Lapinette (Comme des géants, 2015). She lives and works in Montreal.

JACINTHE CHEVALIER is an artist and illustrator. Her pictorial universe is playful and full of color, reminiscent of the early childhood period when anything is possible, such as creatures with three legs or a triangular nose. She creates original digital art as well as drawings in felt-tip pen and ink. Her publications include Aujourd’hui, le ciel… with text by Rhéa Defresne, which won the Prix Illustration Jeunesse (Relève) at the Salon du livre de Trois-Rivières 2013; L’ABC des sirènes and L’ABC des pirates with text by Rachel; Petite boule rouge with text by Valérie de la Torre; and Ma journée, mes humeurs, with text by Rhéa Dufresne. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

MARIANNE CHEVALIER composes collage imagery from an inventory of ancient engravings and found textures. Her collages often feature semi-abstract characters that seem to be drawn from mythological tales. Once her collages are complete, she screen prints them with vibrant colours onto cotton paper or wood panels. Her illustrations have appeared in the L.A. Times, Reader’s Digest, Le Libraire, and Magazine enRoute (Air Canada’s inflight magazine). Marianne has received many awards for her work in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including the 2010 Lux Grand Prize for Illustration. In 2011, she created Atelier Tricorne with Vincent Gagnon (Vigg) and she is also part of the Bellebrute creative duo. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

In JULIEN CHUNG'S world, cute animals with quirky personalities wander brightly colored scenes. By day he works for Montreal's La Presse+, the ground breaking news app, where he illustrates all sorts of things like superhero ducks, globe-trotting pigs and frolicking ladybugs. By night he creates even more off-the-wall characters that dress up a legion of products around the world, from beer glasses and pet dishes to Christmas ornaments and jigsaw puzzles. Despite his tendency towards the silly, he has been recognized by some pretty serious organizations, including 3x3 (New York), Applied Arts (Toronto) and the international Society for News Design. His illustrations for his first picture book, Le Velo de Petit Lion, have been shortlisted in the World Illustration Awards in London (2015). Visit his website for more.CYRIL DOISNEAU was born in 1978 in Nantes, France. Passionate about drawing from an early age, Cyril studied graphic design, and then fine art. He was awarded the 2002 Young Talent Competition at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. In 2006, he discovered Montréal and has lived there ever since. Several of his books are published by La Pastèque, and you can regularly find his illustrations in various magazines. Carnets de bouffe, his latest book, brings together chronicles of restaurants in Montreal and Quebec in comic form. Cyril is currently working on a children’s book. Visit his website to learn more!

GÉRARD DUBOIS explores modern issues through his picturesque and nostalgic style, creating images that appeal to and challenge us at the same time. His illustrations have appeared in a variety of publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, GQ, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Le Monde, The Guardian, L’Actualité and La Presse. Gérard has received some of the most prestigious awards in North America, including three gold medals from the Society of Illustrators; and is a three-time finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award (Henri au jardin d’enfants, 2009; Le piano muet, 2003; Riquet à la Houppe, 2000). His work can be found in the private collections of Rolling Stone Magazine, the writer Stephen King, and the director Guillermo Del Toro, among others. Visit his website for more! 

MANON GAUTHIER is a self-taught illustrator who began her career as a graphic designer. In 2006 she decided to devote herself to children’s book illustration. Since that time Manon has illustrated a dozen books for publication in Quebec and Europe. She has been nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award three times, in the category “Children’s Literature – Illustration”, for: Ma maman du photomaton (2007), Triste Sort ou l’hurluberlu de Morneville (2010), Giroflée Pois-Cassé (2012), and Grand-mère, elle et moi (2014). In January 2014, four of her illustrations from her book Mon parc were selected to be part of the prestigious exhibition Mostra degli illustratori, at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy. Manon works in a variety of mediums including colored pencil, gouache, and collage. Visit her website for more information!

GENEVIÈVE GODBOUT has worked as an illustrator since her return to Quebec in 2013. Prior to this she lived and worked for many years in London as an artist for The Walt Disney Company. Her vintage-inspired illustrations are imbued with a nostalgia for childhood, and are created in traditional mediums such as pastels and colored pencils. She has illustrated many children’s books including Joseph Fipps (La Pastèque in French, Enchanted Lion Books in English) and Mauvais Poil (Comme des Géants). Visit her website to learn more!

ÉLISE GRAVEL’S sense of humor, inspired by the silly and absurd, along with her sketch-like drawings, make her work appealing to children and adults alike. Elise is an illustrator and author who has published over 25 books for children and adolescents, including the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award winner, La clé à molette. Elise is well known for her imaginative collection of monsters, featured in Raising Your Pet Monster: Care, Feeding, Etiquette and Adopt a Glurb!. She is also driven by an interest in social issues, tackling such subjects as gender and body image, fast food, and consumerism with her trademark irony and wit. Her books have been published in eight languages and are sold around the world. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

IRIS is engaged in all types of art, from painting to illustration, but has really made her mark as an author and illustrator of graphic novels. She’s a storyteller, and her expressive illustrations contain characters and places evocative of the streets and people of Montreal. Her publications include Justine; L’ostie d’chat, a three volume series written and illustrated in collaboration with Zviane; Pour en finir avec le sexe, illustrated by Iris and written by Caroline Allard; La liste des choses qui existent, written and illustrated in collaboration with Cathon; and the series Les leçons du professeur Zouf, illustrated by Iris and written by Elise Gravel. Visit her website to learn more about her work.

KATY LEMAY creates original textural collages from unique objects, photographs and sketches, blending vintage and modern for a look that is uniquely hers. Katy’s collages have appeared in magazines and newspapers across the United States and Canada, including Time Magazine, The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, and Elle. She’s also illustrated a number of children’s books, including Émilie La Mayou, written by Marie-Claire Séguin; Poisson et poissons, written by Christiane Duchesne; and Schlick!: Tout plein d’histoires avec des mots and Cocorico!, both written by François Gravel. Katy has won numerous prizes for her work. Visit her website to learn more about her work. 

JANICE NADEAU studied graphic design at the Université du Québec à Montréal and illustration at the École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg (France) before working as an art director for various organizations. She has illustrated a number of books and is a three-time recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Illustration. Nul poisson où aller, published in 2003, earned her the first of these three awards. Nadeau later adapted the book for No Fish Where to Go, her first animated film co-directed by Nicola Lemay and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. The film was widely shown at festivals and won several awards. Mamie, Nadeau’s new film and solo directorial debut, is a personal and intimate story. Nadeau has an evocative, poetic and sophisticated style, which blends both retro and modern aesthetics. Nadeau also teaches illustration at the École de design of Université du Québec à Montréal. For more information visit her website.

GUILLAUME PERREAULT began his career as a graphic designer, but quickly turned to freelance illustration. He has illustrated many graphic novels and children’s books, and has also worked with diverse advertising clients. Guillaume has also explored the world of writing, having written and illustrated two graphic novels. In 2016, he received a Reader’s Choice Pepite prize at the Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse Seine-Saint-Denis. A native of Rimouski, he currently lives in Gatineau. Visit his website to learn more about his work.

ALAIN PILON lives and works in Montreal. He regularly collaborates with numerous American, French and Canadian publications, such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair France, World Magazine and The Walrus. In 2016 he illustrated Des Héros pour la Terre, written by Isabelle Collombat and published by Actes Sud Junior, and Lettres à mon Cher Grand-Père qui n'est plus de ce Monde, written by Frédéric Kessler and published by Grasset-Jeunesse.  When he is not at his drawing table, he trains at Underdog boxing club in Montreal. Visit his website to learn more!

LAURENT PINABEL'S universe, poetry meets satire. His playful minimalist images are composed of black forms and lines, sometimes punctuated with color. Laurent's work is aimed at all audiences and applied to a wide variety of media: editorial (Urbania, BazzoMag), school textbooks (Finance at stake at Chenelière editions), book covers (ed. Transcontinental ed., Somme ed.), exhibitions (De A à Z, 26 clins d’oeil sur ta ville at the Grande Bibliothèque de Montréal), book illustration (The Jay Way, for the ski resort Jay Peak, Vermont), children’s theater (La Roulotte), theater posters (Aux Ecuries, Le Clou theater, Théâtre du Grand Jour, The worst species, the National Theater School of Canada), and objects and packaging (Toma Objets, Eska, Avant-Garde microbrewery)... Currently Laurent is working on Les Pamal, a collection of illustrated books for children 8 years and older. Visit his website to learn more about his work.

MICHEL RABAGLIATI is a key figure in the Quebec comic book world with his iconic series “Paul”, which includes eight books and has been translated into six languages. He fell in love with the Franco-Belgian comic book tradition at an early age, via weekly editions of Spirou, Tintin and Pif, and created his first comic book at the age of 10. As an adult, he worked in the fields of graphic design, advertising, and editorial illustration, before returning to comic books. Since 1998 his comics have been revolutionizing what is called the 9th art form (comic books and graphic novels) in Quebec. In 2007, he was awarded a special mention for his contribution to the field by the Prix des libraires du Québec. He was also the first Canadian to win an award at the International Comic Book Festival in Angoulême. For more information, visit his website.

ROGÉ is a prolific illustrator, painter and writer, with more than 20 children’s books to his name. He has won numerous awards for his work; amongst many others he is a winner of the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award for Le gros monstre qui aimait trop lire (2006) and a three-time finalist for Mingan mon village(2013), Haïti mon pays (2011), and La vraie histoire de Léo Pointu (2009). The New York Times listed his book Haiti, My Country (the translated edition of Haïti mon pays) amongst the ten best-illustrated books of 2014. Trained in graphic design, he has also illustrated ad campaigns, posters and magazines, but his true love is children’s literature. His work has been exhibited in Canada, Italy, France, and Tawain. Rogé lives in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. Visit his website for more!

SUANA VERELST was born in Antwerp, Belgium and studied traditional painting and drawing at the Fine Art academy before moving to Canada. Her work is a fusion of collage, drawing and painting techniques sometimes combined with digital manipulation. Her illustrations have a wide artistic range, shifting from realism to quirky characters in magical settings, with an evocative and thoughtful style. She has won many awards for her work, including Applied Arts, American Illustration and Photography, the Prix jeunesse des libraires du Québec, and the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award (for her illustrations of the children's book La saison des pluies). Most recently, she has received numerous nominations and awards for her book Razia's Ray of Hope, written by Elizabeth Suneby. Suana lives and works in Montreal. For more information, visit her website.

Arnopeople, illustrator and graphic designer born in France and established in Montreal for several years. Arno made his mark thanks to his love for rock, punk and the independent scene, producing album covers, illustrations on shirts, event posters, video motion, etc. His work is unbridled, uncompromising. His inspiration comes from the street energy and underground culture. One of his collaborations in the world of the music scene. His collaborations in the world of music include : Mastodon, Eagles of Death Metal, Russian Circles, Metz, Fidlar,Turbonegro,Simple Plan, Émile Bilodeau, Vincent Vallières, les sœurs Boulay...