Renowned Bass – An Interview With Armel Oenn

“Know your worth because schools don’t teach artists what they’re worth. Most clients will take advantage of younger artists because they don’t understand how they get paid. If you’re going to work for free, work for yourself: this is a most rewarding exposure. – Armel Oenn, November 10, 2017

Memory is vague and it has taken some time to really collect all the details about how I first came across Armel’s work. I remember browsing through Deviantart art and discovering the entire “Undertale Reset” comic (whatever was completed) while I was at work on a slow day. It was magnificent. The sepia tones, his understanding of lighting and the overall artistry of the figures was captivating. It was the colors that really inspired me. Even to the point of visually studying his work to try and understand what he was doing. Compiling my own understanding of other Adobe software in an attempt to replicate it. His illustrations immediately attracted me, and my quest for further understanding eventually led me to his official website. At that time school projects were coming up and I had to find someone I liked, to pair with another illustrator for our assignment, so I thought “why not?”

Part of the many activities I enjoy is research. I am driven by raw emotion when I find something new that I don’t understand or don’t know enough about. I had a similar reaction when I started the writing assignment on Armel. I searched every corner of the internet to find everything I could. In that search I came across a handful of works that I would like to discuss. Since I love all of Armel’s art, my personal favorite would have to be “You’ll Be a Man.”

“You will be a man” is a short film created by Armel Oenn, it is his French thesis project that was put together using the traditional animation studio production method. This video is his only animated project (animated storyboard) and was made in 2012. He had the help of Cécile MARIAN and Victor CHEA as voice actors and Mathieu DAHAN as main musical composer. His story is set in a world where society has been devastated by cloned machines that look like humanoids. These new humanoids are quarantined from the rest of humanity and any who escape are often dealt with in one way or another.

The center of the story focuses on a gang of friends in this strange time who fantasize about the glories of war. Not being able to understand French, most of the details are vague, but despite this, Armel’s animations manage to convey the story even with the language barrier. The most sinister thing about these friends was their clear cruelty towards any of the machines that managed to escape from confinement. This story, as an honest statement, generated emotions of anxiety and guilt after seeing it. I remember boiling with rage when the injustices were committed. I remember the despair that sank in when there was no resolution after these events. That left powerful emotions inside me, and they resonated for a handful of days as my mind went back to those scenes. I didn’t know how to handle it. I am used to a society in which there is often a happy ending and in which justice tends to be done to those who deserve it. Seeing that girl die and knowing the guilt Jasper felt after the course of action he took to save his own life. I was depressed by the whole situation and reminded of my own unresolved faults and injustices. History spoke to humanity and truly revealed our imperfections. The machines of history were more human than humans themselves. Despite these raw emotions, I loved the storytelling. I loved that it brought out so much of me, it made me feel and it didn’t disappoint me like many of today’s stories. My investigation of Armel did not stop there. Finding that story was just the beginning, and from then on I found myself inspired and enthralled. Not only of his works, but with the artist himself.

Armel Oenn was born in 1987 in France, set in a family that only wanted the best for their daughter and her future. Seeing that at a very young age he had developed an exceptional talent in the arts, they gave her to his grandfather in the hope that his talent would grow. For two years, her grandfather instructed and trained her in the basics of the art. It was an experience of mixed feelings, as the artist reflects that her grandfather was not a skilled pedagogue, which eventually led to a hatred of colors and painting or anything of the sort and she developed a fondness for pencil drawing and painting. anatomy. One afternoon, after two years of being in her care, she informed him that she couldn’t teach him any more. She had progressed beyond her experience and from then on she had to continue on her own. She dropped on the table a pile of books and studies, which had previously belonged to him, closing her teaching by handing him the first art book of the pile, a retrospective of the life of Leonardo Da Vinci. After that day, she vigorously studied this art library, to the point where the bindings on the books came undone and the pages parted.

At the age of 13, he fell in love with the idea of ​​creating stories. She generating more than 100 stories in a year. Sharing with close friends who supported her through various difficulties at school and pushed Armel to create as much as possible. As the years went by and her friendship grew, her reception moment turned into a storytelling moment, as she walked across the yard, telling her friends about the next episode they’d had. created. One day, as she was describing the ending of her latest story, she noticed a sniffing sound. She turned to find that her friends were shaken and some were even crying. The story she had told them had stirred emotion from them, a feeling that filled her with joy. Armel knew from that moment that getting emotion out of the audience would be her goal. To see another person react to her work, to the story that she created, was her wish in her life. She wanted to make people feel. This passion spilled over into various mediums even though art was her most well-versed skill of hers. She experimented with film, writing, comics and just about every other method she could discover that would allow her to share her stories. She believed that comics would not be enough to show all that she wanted to give. It was a slow and rigorous process and she hoped that maybe through the film she would be able to share her stories at a faster pace. She now comments that it is not the case and that it is just as slow, if not slower.

Through several arguments with his family related to his change of media and fearing to stop making art, Armel tried to bend to his wishes to appease them. Eventually, through a chat with an instructor, he realized that there was a solution to his problem: animation. With his family relieved and oppression lifted, Armel found his passion once again. Delving into contest after contest to apply to schools in France, she was eventually accepted to ENSAD (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris) and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts and Animation.

It is considered one of the highest ranked schools in its district and out of 6,000 applicants, only 80 students are accepted each year. However, it should be noted that ENSAD’s concept of art is very different from what we might expect from an art school. In the US, we emphasize technical skill and an understanding of the fundamentals. But in that school, his art was subjective and conceptual. One of Armel’s instructors pointed out that he may have graduated with them, but that he didn’t learn his skills from the university itself, but from outside influence. During her junior year of college, she was awarded a scholarship to be sent abroad to New York. Her work was so praised and sought after that the head instructor in the animation department sent a referral for her to skip a year and study at SVA. Even introducing him to a man from Pixar who, to his great sadness, did not deliver due to technical difficulties. There were complications to her stay at SVA due to lack of funds and the school’s problem with her missing a year. The deal to allow her to stay concluded with her studying for the summer and fall semester, and she graduated from New York, which she did, as well as being named to the Dean’s List for high academic achievement.

Armel has many other accomplishments, including working as an advertising illustrator and animator for Intel and Samsung, and assisting animator Bill Plympton on his latest feature film “Revengeance.” One of his greatest achievements was seeing his short film “4 O’clock” awarded the Best Animated Short Film Award both at the Festival de Toulouse “Imagine Now” 2010 and at The Barcelona Planet Film Festival 2017. Along with those awards, his short has screened at various festivals over the past two years and was recently added to the library of HEWES Pictures agency in New York, for a 4-year nationwide distribution license.

However, in recent events, Armel has experienced some conflict during his last four years in the US It is a struggle to find money and a struggle to survive in what we all know as the country of the American dream. Our home was a place where anyone could cross our borders and find the future he wanted. But this is a long journey of hardship and determination. The hopes and dreams of people who come to the United States, those who are sincere in their intentions, may find it difficult to maintain a solid foundation.

For Armel it has been a constant battle. After being fired from her, following the merger of the agency that employed her, she continues to fight for her right to remain in the US, obtaining a visa for exceptional ability, building her study to maintain the sleep. She fighting against every obstacle that she stumbled upon. But she is hopeful that she will get through it all, no matter what comes her way.

Armel Oenn is in dire need of support. She is an admirable woman. For what she’s worth. I find her underrecognized, people really need to know more about her. Her story, what she wishes to share, and most importantly, her indomitable spirit and courage. Ella has been given the short end of the stick at all times, and despite these shortcomings, Ella Armel has not allowed herself to fully succumb to the iron fist of social opinion, politics, and cruelty. She is an inspiration. My inspiration and I want to possess that fire that she has because she is unstoppable.

Having the strength to contact her in the first place was the most stressful experience of my life. I was truly humbled not only by her exceptional abilities as an artist but as a person as a whole. However, the moment I began my interview with her, it opened up a whole new world of thought and conversation. It was no longer an interview at that time for me, it was a gift that he kept giving me. Her advice flowed freely, much like that of an American illustrator known as Al Parker. People described Al Parker’s generosity so fondly and they both share that grace. I felt her pain during the conversations of her past and the emotions of joy when there was a success in her life. I sincerely wish to support and follow her every step of her career. I know I have repeated it more than once, but I do so because I want to emphasize it. I’m inspired.

I see an exceptional artist, and I know there are many of you who see the same thing. The best thing we can do for Armel right now is to show her our support and show others who don’t know her how much she’s worth. I want to help her stay in the United States and I want her dreams to come true. Let’s rally for her and give her the support she needs from her.