Some of you already know him, others discovered him when our Hot collab' was released! But who is really behind the artist Regards Coupables? We met him to learn more about him and his work.
For those daring enough, we'll let you discover his interview!
Hello Regards Coupables, we're here because for Valentine's Day we called upon your talent as a naughty illustrator to help us create a box of 16 mini-napolitains. Can you explain the concept of your illustrations for this collaboration?
First of all, thank you for inviting me for this interview. For this collaboration with Le chocolat des Français, we wanted to play on the hidden/revealed aspect. The box is sober on the outside with a mischievous female gaze. Inside, you'll discover a whole story that unfolds in 16 napolitains about a naughty moment between a man and a woman.
Your artist name is Regards coupables... But guilty of what?
That's a good question! When I found the name "Regards Coupables" 3 years ago, I had no idea I would be drawing what I draw today. But now, I can make the connection between my name and my subjects, and I think it refers to a guilty gaze that each of us can have on our own sexuality. A guilty gaze that can prevent us from achieving a certain sexual liberation. But it's not more precise than that. I prefer it to remain quite vague, so that everyone finds their own interpretation of a guilty gaze.
Chocolate is known to be an aphrodisiac, do you believe it?
Uh, I believe it yes, because I believe in science (laughs). If scientists have shown that it's an aphrodisiac, then yes, I believe it. But personally, I've never really felt its effects myself, or I've never thought: "I'm going to stuff myself with chocolate to get super excited" (laughs). Because the problem with drawing erotic illustrations is that you're always excited (laughs). So I haven't needed that for now.
What was your hottest drawing?
For me, my hottest drawings are always cunnilingus, which I also call "Facetime" and "Sunday worship" because it's a little rendezvous I give to my followers every Sunday on Instagram, they love it. After that, I don't have a specific visual in mind. What's certain is that I've already done several series on this subject and I'll continue to do more.
Where does your inspiration come from?
So I have several sources of inspiration. I have a large archive bank that can come from posters, screenshots, photos, or pornographic films. Every exhibition visit is also a way for me to get inspired. Ultimately, I spend much more time looking for images than drawing.
How do you end up drawing butts and breasts all day, what's your background?
Regards Coupables started in 2015, and it was very different from what it is today. At that time, I had my first exhibition at the Saint-Lazare station in a beautiful gallery, and my drawings were quite inspired by the world of tattoos. It was a kind of homage to the traditional "Flash tattoo" which very often featured female figures. Little by little, I delved deeper into the female aspects rather than the tattoos, and it naturally became more sensual and erotic. But no, I didn't suddenly start drawing couples embracing and pairs of buttocks overnight. It came instinctively; I think I must have had it in me, and it needed to be expressed.
Does having 800,000 Instagram followers change daily life?
Honestly, not at all! Even though I won't hide from you that it opens many doors for me and allows me to do new collaborations more easily, to talk to people via Instagram who might not have responded to me if I didn't have 800,000 followers (laughs). But personally, in my daily life, it changes nothing, since I don't show who I am. You could say that I don't define myself by my followers; it's more Regards Coupables who has 800,000 followers. (laughs)
What does your family think of your illustrations? Do they find them amusing?
Yeah, they find them very amusing, generally people around me find them very amusing. I think sexuality is a very intimate subject. So when we're in public, we often talk about it in a somewhat humorous way, which allows us to laugh about it and own up to it in front of other people.
Coming back to my parents, each has their own approach to my work. My father is more interested in, let's say, the financial success of the project. My mother is different. She was a great influence on my career, as she was an art teacher and introduced me to the artistic side of nudity. Particularly through Helmut Newton's photographs. I can show her anything, there won't be a single drawing that will shock her. She's very frank with me, she's really my artistic reference in that regard. Whereas I wouldn't show my father cunnilingus or other images of that style. (laughs)
What do you think of Valentine's Day?
Uhm (laughs) so you might not appreciate it, but I'm not really into "Valentine's Day" (laughs) No, I think everyone experiences it in their own way, and you shouldn't force others to love each other particularly on Valentine's Day. If you want to do something with your boyfriend or girlfriend on Valentine's Day, that's great, and if you don't want to, that's fine too (laughs).
Great, thank you very much for having us! Do you have any hot news to share for 2020?
So I've just released my first book called Regards Coupables Volume 1, in which you'll find 70 illustrations accompanied by 60 short phrases that are a bit like the captions I put on my Instagram posts. These drawings are a selection of the first erotic Regards Coupables drawings, so it's a bit of the starting point of what we know now. So don't hesitate for those who want to discover what I was doing at the very beginning.
That's the end of the interview, we hope that thanks to us you've discovered a great artist and that you now know much more about him, his inspiration and the story behind his naughty drawings. If you want to delve deeper into his universe, click here -> Regards Coupables
