Artists - Part 46

David Gilson

David Gilson (born in 1973) is a French freelance illustrator and animation artist.  Above, Gilson with his cat Pinpin.  You'll see the significance of the cat in a minute.  Gilson is gay and has a husband who seems to be the inspiration for Matou, who you'll also see in a minute.

Gilson has worked for several animation studios. In 1997 he worked for Disney Studios on the movie Tarzan.  Above is a drawing he made for the 20th anniversary of Tarzan, showing Tarzan and Jane.

But Gilson also creates other art.  He has produced a series of slender books of his drawings called Un Minet pour Matou.  The first three books are shown above in a photo sent by an appreciative fan.

And here's the fourth book, released this year, in a photo from another fan.  Are you beginning to get the idea that the art in these books is a bit more risqué than his work for Disney?

The books feature a man called Matou and his cat Minet.  Above, Matou and Minet on the bed.  Matou seems to be out of his clothes as much as he's in them.

To appreciate the books, you need to know that matou is French slang for tomcat, and minet means kitty or pussycat.

The books don't really tell a story; they just show drawings of Matou doing various things (above, at the beach).

Here he's playing a video game.  Notice how hairy Matou is, which becomes significant later.

A rear view of Matou.

At the end of the second book, we're introduced to young Dr. Rouminet, a veterinarian.  You need to know that in French, roux means redhead (ginger), and in French slang, minet not only means kitty, it means twink.  So Rouminet, a redheaded twink, is another minet for Matou.

On his Twitter page, Gilson provided a fascinating series of pictures showing the process of creating a drawing of Matou and his two minets.  First, a line drawing, above.

Then, as a separate layer, the hair for hairy Matou.

Combining the two layers gives this.

Adding color in another layer and then combining them all gives the finished drawing of Matou and his two minets.

Subsequently, we see that Rouminet is attracted to Matou's hair.  Here he buries his face in Matou's hairy chest.  I can relate to that.

This fantasy drawing shows a tiny Rouminet nestled in Matou's armpit hair, while Minet peers out from the jungle of chest hair.

Of course, there's a happy ending.  This is actually a special Valentine's Day drawing, not in the books, showing Matou and Rouminet making love.

But life is not a bed of roses (or chest hair).  We end with a drawing from book 4 of the tomcat, his kitty, and his twink.  Matou is saying, "That's cute, but I'm hot, I'm stiff, and I have to pee."

You can see more of David Gilson's work on his Twitter page https://twitter.com/LePrinceKido and his Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/princekido/, and you can order his art books and other items at https://shop.davidgilson.com.