Clément Thoby

From adolescence onward, Clément Thoby developed a deep passion for drawing. He began a career in animation, specializing in background art—a field in which stylistic adaptation to each project is paramount. He has collaborated on both adult and children’s animated series, served as art director for a music video by the band Mashrou’ Leila, and worked on feature-length animated films, notably Le sommet des Dieux.

During the pandemic, his shift toward illustration truly took shape. He left the world of industrial animation to become an independent illustrator. This newly found freedom allowed him to reconnect with his own visual voice: dreamlike landscapes, often devoid of human figures, inspired by European Impressionism, Japanese shin-hanga prints, and the backgrounds of Miyazaki’s films. He now describes his practice as “dreamcore,” a soft, idealized aesthetic that evokes memory and nostalgia.

His creative process often begins with long explorations on Google Maps, where he captures and reimagines places he has sometimes never visited. Drawing inspiration from light, architecture, and vegetation, he composes images in pastel pencils imbued with calm and delicacy. More recently, photography has entered his practice, challenging the boundary between reference image and finished work.
True to himself, he continues to move forward through constant self-questioning, driven by the desire to evolve his visual language without ever fixing its contours.