Meet Pauline Lévêque | Artist illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Pauline Lévêque and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Pauline, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
My father is a very talented and renowned French artist. He paints trees and fields and birds. My first memories as a child are the hours spent in his studio scribbling on his empty canvas and playing with his oil paintings tubes. I still can remember the smell of his art. My parents were surrounded by creative people. My godfather was Michel Tournier, a wonderful writer. Almost every weekends, my parents were organizing at home long lunches with persons from many different backgrounds. When I was a teenager, I didn’t really know what I wanted to become but I knew I didn’t want to do a “regular” job. After few internships in different publications, I started to work as a journalist. In parallel, I always drew, just for me as a catharsis. One day my husband saw my drawings, he loved them and encouraged me to continue and do more. When I was pregnant with my son, I created “Beep Beep”, a funny little red car, which became the main character of a bilingual (French-English) children’s book series. I decided to put my journalist carrier on hold and draw for a living. In 2017, I co-wrote and illustrated a whimsical side-by-side guide that muses about the educational contrasts between Parisian and New York parenting styles. Since, I illustrated novels, I created custom designs books, clothes, accessories, birth and wedding announcements and worked a lot on commissions. The artistic “vibe” was always in my genes, I needed to be confident in myself.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I grew up in the countryside in the middle of nowhere, an hour from Paris. I remember the scent of the grass in the morning, the gorgeous skies, and the strength of the linden trees. But I’m obsessed with cities. I suffer from vertigo but I love heights. I’m not sure where it comes from, but lines and perspective have always inspired me. I just love drawing cities, pieces of them, It can be a street, a tower, a large building, a small house or a roof, I love the structure and the composition of a city. I love to imagine there’s no end to it. Its horizon is structured, busy, uneven, rough. Yet still you can dream. I think the most important thing in life is to try to have fun as much as possible. Drawing makes me happy. Sometimes one illustration can make me suffer, I have to do it again and again. Or I may like it in the evening and hate it in the morning. Still I found pleasure in it.

Being an artist can be lonely, it’s always interesting and productive to share creative ideas or techniques with other artists, I love that, I love learning from them, looking at them.

I got to where I am now thanks to a series of encounters and coincidences. I’m not afraid to take risks, to try new things.

I trust in life!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The best way is to get lost. No map. Good shoes. Walk around and everywhere. From Greenwich Village to East Village, Coney Island to Red Hook, Chinatown to the Metropolitan Museum, Harlem to Columbus Circle. And of course always look up. Not only we have the most gorgeous blue sky in the world in New York City but also it is magic to look at the corners of the roofs, the water tanks, the graffitis, the constructions going higher, the colors…

For a great meal I would take them to Frevo (frevonyc.com), Mimi (miminyc.com), Buvette (ilovebuvette.com), En Japanese (enjb.com)…

Get a last drink listening jazz at Smalls Live jazz club.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My family ! First, my husband who encouraged me even before I knew I was going to go through that new career. My children who made me an artist. Pregnancies were a very creative time for me. I wish I could always see the things and the world through a child’s eyes. My children are also the first to review my work, and they can be very objective!

My parents who always have my back. I’m doing a show in September in Paris with my dad, it’s a huge emotion. He asked me few weeks ago if I could be part of his future show; for me it’s an amazing feeling of pride, happiness, complicity and love.

My friends also. Charlotte G, David J, Karine J, Amira A, Dean A, Olivia C, Clémence VM, Sophie R, Elsa DS, Martin DS, Blandine V, Francois V, Solenne V., Zofia R, Jean R, Elisabeth H, Pierre Antoine R, Orit G, David G, Elizabeth DP, Carmen Z, Tracy S, Valérie L, Florence M, Karine B, Marion N, Amanda S… Thank you for their support.

And finally my fellows artists and friends, Carole Jury, Gaelle Marcel, Annabel Perrigueur, Faustine Badrichani…

Website: www.paulineleveque.com

Instagram: @paulinelevequelevy

Linkedin: Pauline Lévêque

Twitter: Maselle7

Facebook: Pauline Leveque