LINEL, a favourite of gouache artists

With its exceptional pigment richness and smooth texture, LINEL Lefranc Bourgeois gouache is an iconic paint for artists, designers, graphic artists and illustrators.

The legacy of Linel extra-fine gouache Lefranc Bourgeois

The painter Henri Matisse, master and leader of Fauvism, adored Linel extra-fine gouache. While he never forgot to praise it in every interview, he also actively participated in the creation of Linel violet in collaboration with the chemists and researchers Lefranc Bourgeois.

At the end of his equally exciting career, he created the "sculpture of colour" by cutting and structuring bright colours of Linel gouache on paper. A revolution in modern art!

A study on display at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Ana Martins and Karl Buchberg, Conservation Department, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photo Lydia Delectorskaya, Hotel Regina, Nice, c. 1952

Today, many artists are inspired by Linel's extra-fine gouache.

ESTELLE LAGARDE

Gouache artist and designer, Estelle elaborates her gouache Haute Joaillerie Horlogerie with minute precision, transforming the Linel colours into real jewels on grey paper. Creative from a young age and passionate about drawing, it was in 2009 that Estelle found her passion, during her jewellery training at the Amblard high school in Valence: gouache jewellery. A love story begins, emotion is the starting point of each creation.

In the Parisian design studio Van Cleef & Arpels, and then in Switzerland, Estelle learns her trade as a professional jewellery gouache artist.

In 2019, Estelle created her jewellery and watch design studio as well as a training site dedicated to jewellery gouache with her brother Thibaud LAGARDEJEWELRYDRAWING.

After all these years of work with the greatest jewellery and watchmaking houses, Estelle created her own brand. Little by little, this adventure became a reality and the LAGARDE brand is no longer a utopia. It is with this sentence that Estelle transmits the identity of her brand: "Dreams belong to reality".

ARIANE BUTTO

After a training in graphic and textile design, some travels and personal experiences, Ariane decided in 2018 to start illustrating.

Ariane paints colourful and poetic landscapes with gouache in which exotic animals, men and women meet. She is inspired by her travels in Asia and South America, the works of Douanier Rousseau or Michel Ocelot.

All her works are handmade. Sometimes all in colour with gouache, sometimes in black and white in the style of old engravings.

In Paris, Ariane paints for different projects, textile design, panoramic wallpapers, matchboxes...

Ariane has collaborated with L'Occitane, Unicef, Fragonard, Archivist Gallery, Pascale Editions, La Thé Box, La Canopée, and many others!

"The small tubes of Linel gouache have been with me since the beginning: it alone guarantees colours that are as luminous as they are joyful.

CAROLE RAMPINETTA

A textile designer and pattern maker trained in stage costume, Carole designs unique, colourful and poetic patterns, constantly inspired by travel, nature and the folklore of different countries around the world. She has been creative since she was a little girl and has a passion for theatre and circus arts, which she has practised since she was 8 years old.

Carole loves telling stories and bringing emotions to life both on stage and with her pencils and brushes.

Her illustrations are often compared to Proust's madeleines that carry joyful, meticulous and mischievous childhood memories. A lover of paper, Carole works in the traditional way with gouache, watercolour or ink. "Linel colours are the starting point for each of my creations, I use them as a real playground."

PAWM

Self-taught, Pawm discovered painting at the age of 18, first in shades of black and white, then in colour. After acrylic, watercolour and oil, Pawm turned to gouache with which she can fully express herself. Her work is inspired by pop culture, video games, series and films.

In 2021, Pawm launches on Twitch, sharing her video game lives but also her art. That same year, thanks to the aesthetics of Ghibli Studios, Pawm tries its hand at landscape, studying live with its community. Pawm's ambition is to motivate its audience to perform an artistic activity during the week, all the productions are seen live, and a new theme is chosen for the following week. In May 2022, Pawm is also launching the Artleague.fr website, which allows artists present on Twitch to showcase their work and have an online shop.

"The Linel gouache has been a revelation! Its quality helps me to improve my landscapes."

MARIE DETREE

Marie Détrée was born in Saint-Malo into a family of sailors. She graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was appointed official painter of the Navy, POM, in 2010. This title allows her to embark on all the ships of the French Navy and makes her travel the seas of the world. Following in the footsteps of many explorers, such as Mathurin Méheut, she relates in gouache the numerous maritime landscapes she observes. Marie Détrée's missions can last from 5 days to 5 months, on board ships or submarines! Linel gouache, for its unique and natural composition, is the only paint allowed on board and the painter can then transcribe her observations on her notebook.

The speed of drying, the matt finish, the luminosity of the colours and the lightness of the paper as a support are essential assets for painting during her voyages. Marie Détrée is also an author, in 2010 she published La grande ménagerie du bord, a book that plunges us into the world of the Navy and its vocabulary referring to the animal world. Painting has a central place in this book with no less than 150 gouaches.