Meet @psycheophiuchus 🤍

Patreon // Yoann Lossel & Psyche Ophiuchus

[ENG] ☀️ Psyché Ophiuchus and I have decided to set up a Patreon page, as a way of following and supporting our work. This has taken the form of a manifesto in which we discuss our life as artists and our artistic philosophy.

"This Patreon is designed to communicate our vision of the artist's work and art in the 21st century world, to discuss our creative processes, to showcase our progress and ongoing work (creations, experimentation). In essence, this Patreon will be like a journal documenting our lives as artists. We plan to share behind-the-scenes looks at our photo shoots and Yoann's painting sessions, as well as articles detailing our influences and current reflections, all in the form of videos or photographs."

You can register for free to access the content we'll share freely, or you can subscribe to support us and access members-only content.

[FR] ☀️ Psyché et moi avons décidé de créer une page Patreon pour suivre et soutenir notre travail. Cette page a pris la forme d'un manifeste dans lequel nous discutons de notre vie d'artiste et de notre philosophie artistique.

"Celui-ci a pour vocation de communiquer autour de notre vision du travail d'artiste et de l'art dans ce monde du XXIe siècle, de parler de nos processus créatifs, de montrer nos avancées et travaux en cours (créations, expérimentation). En somme, ce patreon sera comme un journal de bord de nos vies d'artistes. Nous prévoyons d'y partager des coulisses de nos séances photo et des sessions de peinture de Yoann, ainsi que des articles détaillant nos influences et nos réflexions actuelles, le tout sous la forme de vidéos ou de photographies."

Vous pouvez vous inscrire gratuitement pour accéder au contenu que nous partagerons librement, ou vous abonner pour nous soutenir et accéder au contenu réservé aux membres.

I directed Alcest 's latest music video with my partner Psyché Ophiuchus and my dear friend Cedric. The time-lapse was shot on the night of June 21, the summer solstice, in the Brocéliande forest where we live. And by coincidence of the calendar, we finished the animation on the night of December 21, at the winter solstice. Six intense months to create this 8-minute video clip in traditional animation, and six magical months working on an otherworldly work.

ALCEST // L'ENVOL CREDITS Directing: Yoann Lossel Script: Cedric Lenfant, Psyché Ophiuchus, Yoann Lossel Animation: Cedric Lenfant, Yoann Lossel Pictures: Psyché Ophiuchus, Yoann Lossel Models: Psyché Ophiuchus, Etienne

Alcest - L'Envol

I had the immense pleasure of creating the cover art for Alcest's 7th album, "Les Chants de l'Aurore". The album will be released on the summer solstice, June 21.

Neige asked me to reinterpret Sydney Long's beautiful painting "The Spirit of the Plains". "Les Chants de l'Aurore" - Oil and gold leaf on paper.

Model: Psyché Ophiuchus

Here are some images extracted from Alcest's latest music video, L'Envol", an 8-minute music video that I directed alongside Psyché Ophiuchus and Cedric Lenfant.

It was inspired by the aesthetics of the golden age of illustration that I cherish so much, especially Ivan Bilibine, Heinrich Lefler & Joseph Urban. It is obviously tinged with Art Nouveau and symbolism, my first artistic loves. And it also pays tribute to Japanese animation and illustration, a source of inspiration for both Neige and us.

We tried to treat each scene like an animated painting, a composition one can pause on, with the absolutely insane constraint of animation which involves creating dozens of drawings for every second.

"L'Envol" comprises 8000 photos taken on the night of June 21, 2023, with Psyché, from 9:00 pm to 8:00 am, at a rate of one photo every 5 seconds. 8000 photos reworked and assembled to create the magical time-lapse of that solstice night. It features a bird puppet, costumes, and a choreography interpreted and rehearsed for hours by Psyché. And it includes 6690 colorized drawings made over 5 months by Cedric Lenfant and myself.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it! Thanks to Neige for entrusting us with the creation of this film!

I wish you a happy New Year 2024

Dear friends of the Forgotten Gods, we've officially reached the end of my artbook stock. Here's an inventory of the remaining editions:

25 standard editions, "First Magical Gathering" (100 in French) 64 signed standard editions, "Noble West Forest" (93 in French) 44 signed deluxe editions, "Lustratio" (68 in French) 49 signed deluxe editions, with clamshell box, "Celestial" (55 in French)

https://yoannlossel.com/shop

If you'd like to order, for a gift or for yourself, I'll reserve the next few days for signing and preparing the books (they'll be shipped within two weeks).

Thank you again for this superb adventure, which has taught me so much.

[ENGLISH]

I am pleased to announce a collaboration with L'Atelier d'Offard, a world-renowned manufacturer from France (Tours). They have honored me by adapting one of my designs into wallpaper (and it is now officially available). As an admirer of William Morris' work, I couldn't have dreamed of anything better.

Atelier d’Offard perpetuates the know-how required for creation of hand blocked wallpapers as produced by the great factories of the 18th and 19th centuries. Specialized in the reproduction of old wallpapers but also in the contemporary creation, the manufacture works for a great number of prestigious places. We had the pleasure of discovering their work in 2018, in Florence, Italy, when we visited the magnificent Officina profumo-farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.

[FRANCAIS]

J'ai le plaisir d'annoncer une collaboration avec L'Atelier d'Offard, une manufacture tourangelle au savoir-faire mondialement reconnu. Celle-ci me fait l'honneur d'adapter un de mes motifs en papier peint (et il est désormais officiellement disponible). En admirateur de l'œuvre de William Morris, je ne pouvais rêver mieux.

Atelier d’Offard perpetuates the know-how required for creation of hand blocked wallpapers as produced by the great factories of the 18th and 19th centuries. Specialized in the reproduction of old wallpapers but also in the contemporary creation, the manufacture works for a great number of prestigious places. We had the pleasure of discovering their work in 2018, in Florence, Italy, when we visited the magnificent Officina profumo-farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella.

[ENGLISH]

I created the "Thistles & Stars" pattern in 2021, for the endpapers of my book Forgotten Gods. It is a motif that evokes the theme of my book and links the vegetal interlacing with celestial symbols. "Thistles & Stars" is a contemplation of the sky from the forest, a pattern that brings earth and sky together to accompany reverie.

[FRANCAIS]

J'ai créé le motif "Thistles & Stars" en 2021, pour les pages de garde de mon livre Forgotten Gods. Ce motif évoque le thème de mon livre et associe les entrelacs végétaux aux symboles célestes. "Thistleles & Stars" est une contemplation du ciel depuis la forêt, un motif qui réunit la terre et le ciel pour accompagner la rêverie.

[ENGLISH]

To create this wallpaper, Atelier D'Offard uses the beautiful traditional technique of hand block printing: The paper is made especially for the Atelier d'Offard. It is first painted - background coating - using large silk brushes (respecting this ancestral gesture guarantees the pictorial qualities of their wallpapers). The paints used are made from natural pigments and binder (rabbit skin glue), the colors respect the principles of conservation and give the wallpapers brightness and mattness. Then, printed repeat after repeat, and possibly color after color, the "Thistles & Stars" pattern is painted by applying the board with a manual press. The pictorial layers are thus deposited, giving the finished product the material, the impasto and the chromatic richness that allow it to bear the true name of wallpaper.

[FRANCAIS]

Pour créer ce papier peint, l'Atelier D'Offard utilise la très belle technique traditionnelle de l'impression à la planche : Le papier est fabriqué spécialement pour l’Atelier d’Offard. Il est d'abord peint – couchage de fond – à l’aide de grandes brosses de soie (respecter ce geste ancestral garantit les qualités picturales de leurs papiers peints). Les peintures utilisées sont fabriquées à partir de pigments naturels et de liant (la colle de peau de lapin), les couleurs respectent les principes de conservation et confèrent aux papiers peints éclat et matité. Puis, Imprimé raccord après raccord, et éventuellement couleur après couleur, le motif "Thistles & Stars" est peint par application de la planche sur presse manuelle. Les couches picturales sont ainsi déposées en donnant au produit fini la matière, les empâtements et les richesses chromatiques qui lui permettent de porter le véritable nom de papier-peint.

[ENGLISH]

It is now possible to order the wallpaper "Thistles & Stars" by contacting the manufacture (Please read the details below):

contact@atelierdoffard.com

In order to harmonize this wallpaper with your interior, you have the possibility to select the background color as well as the color of the pattern (or several colors). The wallpaper is delivered in rolls of 50cm/10m, at a price of 294€/roll (one background colour plus one pattern colour). It is necessary to order a minimum of 3 rolls when ordering, that is to say 15m² (the technique used requires great care, calibration phases and tool changes. Therefore, during the production phase, it is preferable to make a large yardage). Here is a sample of what the company sent me. My first love is the burgundy and gold version, as I originally conceived this design, but I really like the blue / gold, red / gold and the plum / gold / purple version that I discovered.

[FRANCAIS]

Il est désormais possible de commander le papier peint "Thistles & Stars" en contactant la manufacture (Veuillez, s'il vous plaît, lire les détails ci-dessous):

contact@atelierdoffard.com

Afin d'harmoniser ce papier peint avec votre intérieur, vous avez la possibilité de sélectionner la couleur du fond ainsi que la couleur du motif (ou plusieurs couleurs). Le papier peint est livré en rouleaux de 50cm/10m, au prix de 294€/rouleau (une couleur de fond et une couleur de motif). Il est nécessaire de commander un minimum de 3 rouleaux lors de la commande, soit 15m² (la technique utilisée nécessite une grande minutie, des phases de calibrage et des changements d'outils. C'est pourquoi, lors de la phase de production, il est préférable de produire un grand métrage). Voici un échantillon de ce que l'atelier m'a envoyé. Mon premier coup de cœur est la version bordeaux et dorée, tel que j'avais originellement conçu ce design, mais j'aime beaucoup la version bleu / doré, rouge / doré ainsi que le prune /doré / violet que j'ai pu découvrir.

[ENGLISH]

Thank you to L'Atelier d'Offard for this collaboration, I am delighted to work with a manufacturer of this quality.

[FRANCAIS]

Merci à L'Atelier d'Offard pour cette collaboration, je suis enchanté de travailler avec une manufacture de cette qualité.

[ENG] Collector's Edition Embellished with 23K gold leaf, "Le Rêve de la Femme du Pêcheur".Limited-Time Release // January 19 until January 26, 2023 ⭐️

[FR] Édition collector Embellie à la feuille d'or 23K, "Le Rêve de la Femme du Pêcheur".Sortie limitée dans le temps // 19 janvier au 26 janvier 2023 ⭐️#fineartprints #print #yoannlossel

[ENG] 🐙"Le Rêve de la Femme du Pêcheur" Collector's Edition Embellished with 23K gold leaf is finally available:

https://www.yoannlossel.com/le-reve-de-la-femme-du-pecheur Limited-Time Release // January 19 until January 26, 2023

This Collector's Fine Art Print is embellished with 23k "Red" gold leaf (with a slightly pink color). Each print is first screen printed manually to delimit the areas that will receive the gilding, hand gilded with 23K gold leaf, embossed with an etching press, hand stamped, numbered and signed.

Size of the Print: 13 / 19" These Collector's prints will be unique, They will be numbered according to the number of prints ordered and will never be produced again. • • • [FR] 🐙"Le Rêve de la Femme du Pêcheur" Édition Collector Embellie à la feuille d'or 23K est enfin disponible :

https://www.yoannlossel.com/le-reve-de-la-femme-du-pecheur Sortie à durée limitée // du 19 janvier au 26 janvier 2023

Ce tirage collector Fine Art est orné de feuilles d'or 23k "Rouge" (avec une couleur légèrement rosée). Chaque tirage est d'abord sérigraphié manuellement pour délimiter les zones qui doivent recevoir de la dorure, doré à la main à la feuille d'or 23K, gaufré à la presse à eau-forte, estampé à la main, numéroté et signé.​

Dimensions du tirage : 33/48cm Ces tirages Collector seront uniques, ils seront numérotés en fonction du nombre de tirages commandés et ne seront plus jamais produits.

#SupportHumanArtists

Here is a translation of three posts about the arrival of AI in art, originally written in French, that I wrote three months ago. The debate has continued since then, but the basis of my thinking remains the same. What has changed the most since I wrote these posts is the widespread use of this technology. What was once a fear is becoming more and more tangible.

Midjourney / AI in art Part 1 : First impressions.

What questions me the most, concerning Midjourney and the arrival of AI in the field of graphic arts, is not so much the capacity of AI to execute scripts, with renderings as bluff as they are, but our capacity to delegate even our imagination. We read here and there that it's just another tool, like the arrival of photography or Photoshop (developped in Part 2⇊ ). But Midjourney is not a simple medium that produces stylistic effects, it's a scripted artist-bot that composes on demand by relying on a database that is itself fed by our artistic productions. It's not only a tool, it's a paradigm shift in the world of graphic creation.

Midjourney (+AI art) will not impact everyone in the same way. As a spectator, one can observe the adventure with an amused eye or even let oneself be carried away by the strange and dark creations very directly evocative of Beksinski's work, the organic visuals taken from Mucha's work (a bit blended), the disproportionate landscapes largely evoking the concept art of famous video games and other more or less strange creations.

But as an artist, we know the sinuous path of creation, the one on which Midjourney relies. This path that inspires, that pushes us to surpass ourselves, to imagine what doesn't exist or to try to remember what does exist in order to transcribe it. It is a force that pulls upwards, that imposes a dynamic, an energy, to take decisions and a direction. Art is not only an object of pleasure to satisfy a spectator, it is a complete step which implies to put in movement its intellect, its senses, its emotions and to constitute a coherent corpus by gathering this whole. Not everyone is capable of constituting this coherent corpus - which like all work requires experience - but everyone, one day, tries and has fun creating. This is a life-saving dynamic, which is often a good sign of mental health for both the individual and society.

Midjourney imposes a much more passive role and I fear that instead of expanding our creative potential it will only weaken it. I feel that if we delegate our ability to imagine, we take away the great tool that art is to develop our human genius and at the same time the possibility to constitute a creative and flourishing civilization.

We can be happy with the visual festival that is taking place at the moment, or not. But, in my opinion, we should not simply think in terms of achievements but in terms of consequences on the development of the individual in a broad sense.

Not to mention the multiple questions and reflections of all kinds that this raises:

Midjourney / AI in art Part 2 : On the human genius.

Short version: When we outsource a skill, one of those that contribute to our development as an individual from a psychic point of view, we add proportionally as much comfort to our lives as we potentially weaken ourselves. I am not questioning the tools that take over our most thankless and physical tasks, those that allow us to eliminate the drudgery and repetitiveness of work, in which case they are saving technologies. I am talking about the outsourcing of our intellectual forces, of our creativity, of our inventiveness. What I defend is not my status as an artist, I will adapt. What I defend is the psychic development, the human genius.

Long version: One must characterize the tools and not confuse them. All the tools do not fit in the same category, even if they belong to the same class, they are not the intermediaries of the same forces and one does not delegate the same tasks. A pencil and a computer are tools, but they do not have the same impact on our civilizations.

Comparing the arrival of AI in art to the arrival of photography is a tempting parallel - and even interesting because we have precise documentation on the period, a testimony to take a step back - but it doesn't seem relevant to me. The camera has upset a figurative approach in search of hyperrealism, but we are talking about a stylistic revolution. A camera is not a tool for producing works of art, it has not been thought in this sense. The camera is a medium in the strict sense, which can be used to produce a work of art. A tool that has no database to draw on, does not compose itself by having ingested the different rules of composition, has no subject matter (MJ has, in a way, subject matter. He organizes it according to your request). Once the camera is at the end of your arm, you have to use your imagination and give intention to that moment until you reach your ideal mental representation.

You can fumble and refine a MJ-generated image for hours, it's true. But you can also not do that and achieve a result, and that is the huge chasm between these two technologies. Comparing photography and MJ is like comparing a map and a GPS. If you never learned how to find your way in space before using a GPS, you don't develop skills that can be useful in many aspects of life: understanding distances, managing space and time. These are skills that make you autonomous, that offer a little more freedom and that help by extension to develop your critical mind. Delegating your imagination or your creativity to an AI, without having learned to develop them, is the same problem, the same weakening of your potential.

Of course, MJ can be an interesting tool to pursue one's artistic path. But it is still necessary to have made an artistic journey before using it. One can quickly obtain a very beautiful result by using this tool, and even obtain recognition by this means, without asking all these questions. But the important thing is the path that leads us to the result, that is what elevates us as individuals. And that which elevates us as individuals participates in elevating us as a society.

Everything that allows us to delegate, everything that allows us to go faster, is and will be used. It is not a question of "if", it is a question of "when". So the question is not whether or not we accept the arrival of this technology. The question is (especially for professional artists): how does one develop one's opinion on this topic, with what sources and what basis of reflection? And then, for the artists, how do we talk about it to the public?

Midjourney / AI in art part 3 : On Arts and Crafts, William Morris and the Avant-Garde of Art.

I read here and there that one must question one's artistic approach, and adopt an avant-garde approach in reaction to the arrival of AI in art.

The function of a large number of craftsmen was radically transformed following industrialization, so much so that they have never found equivalent positions. A cabinetmaker, a jeweler, a dressmaker or a carpenter no longer does the same work as before the advent of industrial production. Either these craftsmen have accepted the evolution of their trade and their work has lost its meaning, or they try to continue their artisanal approach with all the economic problems they have to face (accompanied by the incessant justifications necessary to legitimize their approaches to a public that continues to compare their production to an industrial mode of production). When asked to reinvent themselves, they ended up machining furniture at Ikea, fitting out industrial-style bookcases in plywood, enlarging rings in supermarkets and patterning coats for the luxury industry in cold sheds. The quality of craftsmanship is declining, know-how tends to be lost and finishes are less meticulous, being alienated to a mode of production that optimizes and simplifies to produce faster in greater numbers.

The taste of the public has become accustomed by impregnation to this industrial style which has become the aesthetic culture of our time, and we ask for more. The common mistake being to think that we have developed an attraction for this style by taste, but it is not a style, it is a mode of production which has flooded the world and for which we have developed the affection that we have for what has accompanied us for a long time. A poisoned comforter.

The artist thought he was preserved by his status, detached from his brothers and sisters of the Crafts. But the separation has not always been so clear-cut - in the past, artists and craftsmen walked the same paths, as all our European cities attest - the evolution of the culture we constitute together can choose to downgrade or reclassify the craftsman and the artist according to changing criteria. When we are invited to change our approach to adopt the avant-garde approach to art, we are downgraded from our current function as artists and invited to join the history of artisans.

If one asks the question of whether or not to change one's artistic approach towards an avant-garde approach to art, in order to maintain one's function as an artist, in reaction to a technological evolution, one postulates that one must accept to survive in an ultra-competitive environment and run after the evolution of technologies (evolution of technology is supposed to serve the human being, isn't it?).

Is this really the way we want to think, what we aspire to?

Is it not more interesting to build a civilization by asking questions in order to offer a function that makes sense to everyone, including craftsmen, artists who do not claim to be at the avant-garde of art and "artisans of art" (and we can extend to multiple sectors)? William Morris already addressed the question in these terms more than a century ago. Everyone should be able to access dignity through their work, to find meaning in it by having the feeling of working on something useful and beautiful (useful and beautiful being contextualized in Morris' words). I am convinced that there will always be avant-garde artistic productions and so much the better, but I will always keep in mind the reflection around Arts&Crafts which offered such an interesting glimpse of what could be offered by the union and diversity of talents.

[ENG] At work… The studio I built last year is ideal for immersing myself in my various drawings and paintings. It's a space that I designed and decorated like an immersive bubble. I love its atmosphere, all my favourite objects and inspirations surround me.

[FR] Au travail… L'atelier que j'ai construit l'année dernière est idéal pour me plonger dans mes différents dessins et peintures. C'est un espace que j'ai conçu et décoré comme une bulle immersive. J'adore son atmosphère, tous mes objets préférés et mes inspirations m'y entourent.