About this artist
French illustrator Simon Bailly works in ligne claire: one witty picture to hold a whole text. Tomi Ungerer started the stories. Libération and Le 1 first; now the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Kiblind, BETC and Hermès. Twin Peaks, Star Trek, iPad for clients; ink at home. Hermès sits with the newspapers.
YooshiQ's Note
Simon Bailly is a French illustrator of crisp, story-led pictures, often in a retro-futurist room. Tomi Ungerer’s books started it: tell the story in the image. One illustration, the essential idea, his own view.
Bailly's career began with illustrations for French newspapers Libération and Le 1. He now creates work for international publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and Kiblind, alongside commercial clients such as BETC and Hermès. His visual style is firmly rooted in the ‘ligne claire’ (clear line) tradition pioneered by Hergé, characterized by strong, clean outlines, minimal hatching, and reduced contrast. This aesthetic connects him to a lineage of artists he admires, from classic figures like Maurice Sendak and Jean de Brunhoff to contemporaries such as Tom Gauld and Adrian Tomine.
He primarily works digitally on an iPad using Procreate for commissions, valuing the precision it offers. For personal projects, he enjoys the tactile quality of ink and brush. His illustrations frequently draw inspiration from pop culture, referencing TV shows like Twin Peaks and Star Trek, and are enhanced by bright colours and oddball characters. Bailly particularly cherishes the freedom in editorial commissions to research deeply and synthesize information from various sources to create unexpected imagery, approaching his composition with the curiosity of a journalist.
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