Loïc Movellan’s hilariously digestible four panel comic strips

Paris-based illustrator Loïc Movellan works as a producer during the day but puts pen to paper in the evening, which “helps me to chill out and empty my mind full of crazy ideas,” he tells It’s Nice That.

“I’ve been drawing since my childhood. When I was around six or seven I was a huge fan of Dragon Ball anime but I couldn’t afford to buy any figurines because I was spending all my money on sweets and pain au chocolat from the bakery in my village.” Yet, Loïc decided not to compromise on his sweet tooth, instead drawing his favourite characters, creating “flat figurines to play with, I felt so happy with just a piece of paper,” he explains. “I’ve never stopped drawing since that day.”

Loïc has never had any formal drawing training, a conscious decision “because I wanted to develop skill and style on my own,” he says. “I want to be free, illustrating whatever I want to draw without anybody telling me how to draw or what to draw.” This decision to go it alone means that Loïc’s drawings are something truly new in style and subject, “I don’t like authority that much, the results are always better when I’m challenged by myself.”

Recently the illustrator has been concentrating on four panel comics, “short satirical stories”, which caught our eye while scrolling through his Instagram, an intentional platform for the drawings. “I really like to anticipate people’s reactions when finding my comic strips between people showing off on holidays, at the gym, or with their gluten-free lunch.”

Each comic is chuckle-inducing in just four panels, portraying “instants or anecdotes that I’ve lived and some come directly from my imagination or dreams,” Loïc explains. “I love playing with square cases too drawing around them or even turning them into characters or items so they’re not just frames but protagonists taking part in the stories too”. As a result, the illustrator has mastered creating comics that hilariously digestible.