User:Kractr/Mc Bess

Mc Bess (Matthieu Bessudo), born July 5, 1984, is a french illustrator living in London. His style is a mix of influences such as Fleischer Studios' old cartoons he actualizes by using contemporary shapes, symbols and types. Mc Bess drawings often represent himself at the center of a surrealist world filled with food and musical references, such as amps, guitars and records. He's also a musician in the band "The Dead Pirates".

Early Life and Studies
Matthieu Bessudo was born and raised in Auribeau-sur-Siagne, a small town near Cannes, in France. His father is a satelite designer. He quickly found interest in music, therefore studied drums for 8 years before choosing guitar as his favourite instrument.

in 2002, after his A-level in the Lycee Jules Ferry, in Cannes, he attended the reknown multimedia school Supinfocom in Arles. There he studied 3d-animation during 4 years, and at the same time, started developping his own illustration style, at the time more colorful and less structured. During this period, he joined several famous boards of illustration over the internet such as Eatpoo and CafeSale, and started building his reputation. The nickname Mc Bess was given to him during those years by a classmate, to distinct him from the other Matthieu in the class.

In 2006, McBess graduated from Supinfocom with the short-movie "Sigg Jones" he directed with his two friends Douglas Lassance and Jonathan Vuillemin. The short-movie tells the story of an Ultimate Fight superstar and his agent. Initially called Bob Sapp as a reference to the Ultimate Fighter, a copyright issue forced the authors to come up with a new title. Douglas Lassance came with the name "Sigg Jones" a few days before their graduation, while brushing his teeth, he later consigned. Sigg Jones quickly became a reference in 3d-animation because of its contemporary design and animation, and often caused debate for its featuring of Nike and Reebok sneakers.

Career Beginnings
After graduation, the trio was signed individually as directors by The Mill, Oscar-winning VFX company based in London. At the same time, Mc Bess started a new serie of drawing, giving life to what he describes as the "New Mc Bess". With his illustration "My Desk", he defined the new codes of his future illustrations : A mix of influences including old cartoons such as Betty Boop and Merrie Melodies, often in an isometric view, himself being surrounded by surrealist elements, food, and cameos of his own instruments.

Exhibitions and Publications
Since 2007, Mc Bess has been published in several renowned magazines, such as Juxtapoz, Illustrated Ape, and Hi-Fructose. He is very close to Rotopol Press in Kassel, Germany, who are exclusively printing his drawings, after organizing his first own exhibition in their shop in may 2008. He's also been part of exhibitions in London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Illustration Projects
Mc Bess has founded the illustration crew called "Salle Polyvalente", featuring close friends of him. He also participated to the blog "Naked Gladiators".

Musical Projects
McBess used to be the lead guitarist of a local band called Diztrait. They performed a gig at the MJC Ranguin in Cannes, on November, 6 2004. Mc Bess recently teamed-up with his friend Simon Landrein at The Mill, and created the music-video "Wood (Dirty Melody)" for his own band, the Dead Pirates. The clip quickly spread over the Internet, and has been featured on websites such as Motionographer.

The "Dead Pirates" are to release new songs lately this year.

McBess plays a Gibson SG Standard and a Fender american vintage Hot Rod 62. He also possesses a Fender American Jazz Bass Deluxe, and recently acquired a Baritone Guitar.