Bored Panda has reached out to Guy Billout to find out more about his surreal work. We wanted to know how the artist decided on themes and subjects for his illustrations. Billout told us: “Most of my commissions are editorial and corporate illustrations, which means that my power of decision is about how to serve a theme or topic formulated by somebody else. It is quite different when I am given carte blanche, which allows me to develop my own themes. The way I decide about my own stories or subjects is empirical, or based on improvisation. To give you an example, I have worked for a series of illustrations for The Atlantic Magazine for which I was granted total freedom of interpretation.”

Next, we wanted the artist to discuss the role of surrealism in his work. Guy Billout said: “Many illustrations of The Atlantic series already mentioned, which I consider as my best work, are more about 'What’s Wrong with this Picture?' than surrealism. When I am looking at my photos for an idea, I am looking for a 'mistake' to derail the reality captured by the camera, in other words, looking for a visual pun, a gag. If some significance or poetic overtone is revealed in the final image, it is not intentional.”

Asked about particularly challenging projects Billout had to work on in his career, the illustrator answered: “The most modest assignment for an obscure publication and little money is more challenging than doing a book, for example, with total freedom. With any story written by somebody else, I am always afraid to be unable to find the 'right' visual solution, the 'perfect' idea.”

Then we were interested in how the artist adapts his art to suit different audiences, knowing he has worked with a wide range of media outlets and clients. Billout told us: “I have been trained and developed as a commercial artist, getting my clues from the expectations of my clients (as long as they don’t tell me what to do), with little awareness of my audience. However, experience shows me that this relative adaptability is less interesting than being on my own, free of any expectation.”

We wanted to know how Guy Billout stays inspired and motivated as an artist. He said: “I have been mostly dependent on the deadlines, and the demands from my clients to motivate myself. It is a little more difficult to incite me to draw without that pressure.”