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IDENTIFICATION SHEET. THE ARTIST :
Dominique SCHILLINGS



(NOIR DESSIN)



Residence : VERVIERS
Date of birth : 12-02-1971
Education : Institut Sainte-Claire, Verviers en Arts Appliqués
Institut Saint-Luc, Liège en ILLUSTRATION


Exhibitions

Maison "SAUVEUR" à Chaudfontaine en 1996.
Au "PASSAGE 44" à Bruxelles en 1997.


Collective exhibition

Verviers chez "NOSTALGIA" en 1995.


His works


In general, in the field of illustration and comic strips.

Selected work : Title of the comic strip: " Wallonie, Terre de Légende " (Wallonie=French-speaking part of Belgium)

Date of the work: 1998.

Albert MOXHET and René HAUSMANN transmitted 6 legends, which people used to tell each other round the fire at night in the middle ages. He chose the comic medium.

Légende dessinée par Dominique SCHILLINGS:

"The Knight, the Devil and Sainte-Gertrude".

This illustration is issued of the comc strips: "WALLONIE, TERRE DE LEGENDES"




NOIR DESSIN PRODUCTION All Rights Reserved.
Cette illustration est extraite de la B.D. "WALLONIE TERRE DE LEGENDES".
Reproduction interdite.

Technique used : Aquarelle, gouache and China ink.

Through his documented and accurate drawings (architecture-tools), D. Schillings recreates the atmosphere of a medieval village. In this way, the reader penetrates into the heart of the village of Nivelles.
The characters are sketched firmly and have the characteristics of their social class.
Although he is ruined, the knight is proud and elegant. This is expressed in the drawing by a long face, an aquiline nose and hollow cheeks.
On the other hand, the old monk is blad, toothless and has a flat nose.
The climate is conveyed by the colours. The warm atmosphere of the inn is conveyed by a gradation of warm colours, such as yellow, orange and red.
On the other hand, the knight’s departure to the place of his apppointment with the devil occurs in a sinister climate. The cold shades (blue and turquoise), enhanced by China ink hatchings and black flat tints communicate the knight’s fear to the reader.
The layout of each plate give rhythm to the story. He skillfully plays with the framing, alternating wide drawings and close-ups in order to puzzle the reader and introduce him to the legend and its characters.
This sort of layout is the expression of the social chaos of teh Middle Ages and of the terror induced by the supertitions conveyed by the Church.


THE ARTISTIS WORDS


What do you want to convey? What’s the message?
" I’d like to convey a culture rather than a message. I do that more to entertain people than to make them dream".


CONCLUSION


After analysing Dominique Schillings's work, we can say he excels at creating a comic strip. The original layouts, the size contrasts in the illustrations, the coloured atmosphere, the multiplication of details account for a real unity of style and a plastic quality, which take us into a marvellous and very strange universe of a tale issued from our collective memory. So, in my opinion, it's impossible not to appreciate this comic strip, which makes the reader eager to discover the plot. Moreover, all this is renforced by the atmosphere created through beautiful and realistic drawings which render properly the grave and somewhat gloowy climate, which can be found in every page.


Author : Naïma Aktou 7 ème Prof. Arts

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