Wywiad z Bernardem Yslairem po wydaniu tomu 7 serii głównej Sambre (tłumaczenie z francuskiego na angielski):
On the occasion of the release of volume 7 of Sambre "Fleur de Pave", I was able to interview Bernard Yslaire. Already interviewed in April 2009, the difference is glaring. However, Bernard Yslaire discovered five years ago that his family was suffering from an incurable genetic disease which declares itself in the form of an ocular affection. She touches a part of her family, but not him. This raises awareness. Today the man is appeased, the artist is at the summit of his art. The end of Sambre promises to be masterful.
What has changed for you since our first meeting?
My life has changed. I realized not long ago that this cursed family story was a metaphor for mine. Everything is planned so that Bernard and Julie die together and yet not, Julie survives. Julie continues the story with the guilt of the survivors. This choice imposes itself on me. Later, when I realize that I am a survivor in my family, it is both a shock and a liberation: I am obliged to redefine the future, what remains for me to live.
What makes me suffer delights 1 million readers, it's exciting. So I owe them. What can I offer best? For me, the only thing that makes sense is beauty. Everyone knows what it means but no one can define it.
The only power I have in dealing with the disease is that I produce myself. What is interesting in drawing is the invisible part, the memory left to the reader that will be far beyond what I can draw. I will try to do the best I can.
This joins an old idea that I had about myself, that I was going to start drawing at age 60. I feel that I have just begun the comic book, to finally have the freedom, the pleasure of drawing. I want to make the most beautiful end. I make each page almost as if it were the last. I finally have the maturity necessary to make the end, the apotheosis, finish in beauty.
Julie became the main character on the albums. Was that planned ?
No, it was not planned, but a bit like D'Artagnan in Les 3 Mousquetaires, Julie is not Sambre but it is she who makes history. In the third album, the end was already written. Julie, threatened by the painter, was to be saved by Bernard. When I drew the scene, I thought it was not possible that Julie would not react, that she was the victim. There, at that moment, she becomes an actress of her destiny. It always seemed to me very pompous the artists who say that the characters escape them, but somewhere, it happened to me!
The goal of the scenario is not to foresee everything. It must be as open as possible and responsive to the situation. Consistency is created when I stage the characters. I resumed the myth of Romeo and Juliet, but when I drew it I realized unconsciously that the tragedy was to survive.
Volume 7 has just been released. What is the sequel to Sambre?
I worked on the 3 albums (7, 8 and 9) at the same time. The publication period will be very close with an exit per year. I have already done a big part of the scenario as well as the covers. It remains the adventure to live! A comic is like an outing at sea. It is hoped that there will be no storm before joining the port and if there are, we will have to cross them.
At the end of Fleur de pavé, I did not feel like I finished an album but started the ending. This is the tome where I took the most pleasure and it is the first where after finishing, I continued 2 days later on the tome 8. For the readers who wondered if Sambre was going to know an end , Yes it happens!
And for the War of the Sambre? Where is the Sambre project in prehistory?
We're going to finish the story with Marc-Antoine Boidin. For me, the cycle of the War of the Sambre will be finished after the publication of the last volume of Maxime and Constance. At the beginning, I had planned 7 generations. In doing so we realized that what was interesting in the Sambre War was to understand the departure of Hugo's madness that influenced the fate of Bernard and Julie.
Concerning the cycle on the prehistory, it is always in project and I very want to do it. I do not think I will entrust the drawing to anyone else because it is intimate to talk about prehistory, the Genesis of Sambre. It is the crossroads of religion and scientific theory developed by Hugo's father. For me, this is not part of the Sambre War. I do not know yet what will happen. Today my goal is to finish Sambre. I want to avoid the album too.
After testing everything, you return to the classic drawing techniques. Why ?
This is again linked to my recent challenge. I wanted to come back to something humble. I realized that I had not done a full drawing on paper for 15 years. I wanted to put everything back in the frame, in the board. Progressively, I re-tame. It's more natural. I rediscovered the pleasure of making mistakes, improvising and going beyond what was foreseen. The design has become more instinctive than on a computer where there is no constraint.
Drawing on board is like a sport. You have to warm up before and pay attention to the weather. It was very hot during the realization of the album. The heat had an influence on the pot of ink, paper. It was therefore necessary to hurry to create. And like every well-trained sportsman, you have to do the right thing at the right time. It is a form of trance, an orgasm. It was soothing.
