Quick Facts
AriesBiography
René Follet (born 10 April 1931), sometimes known by the pen name Ref, is a Belgian illustrator, comics writer and artist.
Biography
René Follet was born in Brussels in 1931. His first publication appeared when he was 14, illustrating a promotional issue of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island for Aiglon, a chocolate factory. In 1949, he started working for the two main Franco-Belgian comics magazines of that time, Tintin and Spirou. For both, he collaborated on the series of 4 page historical stories which functioned as a starting point for many young artists like Jean Graton and Hermann Huppen. He also provided numerous illustrations for both magazines, as well as books for Casterman publishing.
In his long cartooning career, spanning over 50 years, Follet never had a long-running or particularly successful series, but his many shorter series and one-shots have earned him the acclaim of many of his peers. He has worked for the Dutch magazine Eppo, and for the major publishing houses in Belgium and France, including Dupuis, Le Lombard, and Glénat. He has also worked as the main penciller for artists Mitacq and William Vance, and has made a long promotional comic for Citroën. At the beginning of his career, he was asked by Edgar Pierre Jacobs to help him draw Blake and Mortimer, but Follet refused because Jacobs did not want Follet's name to be included in the credits.
As an illustrator he works in pencil, acrylic, and other materials, and as a cartoonist is considered a master of the realistic and picturesque drawing style, or as he has been dubbed, "the 'most famous unknown' great master of the 9th art".
His major influences are Jijé, whose series Valhardi he continued for two albums, and the Dutch comics artist Hans G. Kresse (known for his American Indian series 'Les Peaux-Rouges' published by Casterman).
Awards
- 1975: Revelation of the year at the Prix Saint-Michel, Brussels
- 1998: Tournesol Award, for Ikar 2 at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, France
- 2003: Grand Prix for drawing of the Chambre belge des Experts en Bande Dessinée (Belgian Chamber of Comics Experts)
- 2006: Nominated for the best artwork at the Prix Saint-Michel