Ador is a french street artist from Nantes who creates murals of large-scale imaginative humanoid characters. At a very early age Ador found his passion with drawing and hasn’t stopped since. Following his studies in Fine Art, Ador shifted his focus by bringing his art onto the street scene. Ador utilises his playful and wonderful imagination to craftfully blend passion, beauty, ugliness and life. We catch up with Ador and speak to him about his beginnings and his animation…

GraffitiStreet

What was the graffiti /streetart scene like in France when you were  growing up?

ADOR

It was the beginning of frescoes everywhere, and graffiti was maturing. Naturally, as I have been drawing since I was young, I wanted to become involved within the scene.

Ador – A lost kid

 

GraffitiStreet

When was the first time you picked up a spray can and painted a wall?

ADOR

It was around 2005 with friends drawing on a wall, like a lot of people I began with tagging before. From this I knew what I wanted to do… painting on public space.

GraffitiStreet

What motivated you to pursue an artistic career, how and when did it all  start?

ADOR

It is the only thing I want to do. I was wondering… should I keep it for pleasure or do it all the time? I studied art and now the choice is done. Study gave me the time to figure it all out and concentrate on it full time. Now I try to develop a universe, and portary this in different mediums, like volume, installation, video etc.

GraffitiStreet

Who are your biggest influences/inspiration?

ADOR

I think my main influence is watching people and staring at the surrounding. I look at everything and sometimes I invent stories. Our time is rich in exceptional phenomena. I used to visit exhibitions, watch movies to research what other people did.

 

GraffitiStreet

You paint with fellow street artist Semor. How did you two meet and did you find your styles worked well together?

ADOR

A wall is large enough for two people to paint at the same time, so it was natural to try to build an image together the first time. We try to work together with two identities, and mix it to make an image. Semor keeps to his way of working and style and I keep to mine. We combine it when we can… Sometimes it works, sometimes not. One thing for sure though is that we talk less and less in front of a wall because we know each other well.

Ador

GraffitiStreet

You guys must have had some great times together. Are there any specific memories that stick out in your mind?

ADOR

We utilise our travel to meet new people and see their reactions. We always have fun, especially when one of us in on the top of a ladder!

GraffitiStreet

You paint characters, explain the ones you have painted on the mini canvases we have in our store?

ADOR

I would like people to create their own stories and use their imagination of my characters. I have my own story for each character, but it can change depending on my mood, maybe the weather!, each image I paint can work alone… but maybe each image is the following of another one.

GraffitiStreet

We see with your name ADOR you have created characters around the  letters, do you have personalised character alphabet?

ADOR

Yes, I have an alphabet with 27 letters! The problem is that each item doesn’t really looks like a letter, I mean it’s difficult to understand if I “write”. But I hope items are more chatty than words together, like an image can tell a story.

Ador – Sobriquet

Ador

GraffitiStreet

You also make characters of your artwork and do short animations of them, how did this come about?

ADOR

I started two years ago working on a project with others. It didn’t progress so now I am doing it by myself.  I had a few characters in volume and I wanted to make them come alive. I wanted to continue…

GraffitiStreet

For those who aren’t familiar with Stop-Motion animation production  process, how much time do you spend on a single short film?

ADOR

It depends of a lot of things: if I already have décor, characters etc. In general I’m not patient in life…but for this I am quite tough! I have to move the characters slightly, each time I take a picture. One movement, one picture. When there are ten puppets on the scene, I have to take care to move them in a coherent way, and especially not to move the camera…if I accidently do this I have to do everything again from the beginning!
Building everything is the first step, then I have to film image by image, for one second I use on average 12 – 15 pictures, and then I input it all onto the computer and start production with sound etc. I can spend several days working for just a few seconds of film.
The first one I ever did is now screening at a festival in the world. Check out my exclusive trailer below…

GraffitiStreet

How do you make each character? a wire skeleton and a pliable material? what medium?

ADOR

I use plasticine for some, cardboard, and anything else I can find, like pickles boxes, or matchstick bodes for others… a lot of waste! Some others I want them articulated, so yes for these I make a skeleton and use a pliable material.

GraffitiStreet

Stop motion animation has a long history in film. Which for your is the best film and why?

ADOR

I think it’s all the universe of Jan Swankmeyer. For the animation itself and for the sense.

GraffitiStreet

What is the hardest area in Stop-Motion character that you have to deal with? Is it the constant change of a character’s facial impressions? Is it the time consuming it takes to move a single or multiple parts of a character?

ADOR

In general the most difficult part is to give my characters a personality, to make sense only with rhythm, even if they don’t really talk. Also when my characters in my films are fighting or when they fly.

GraffitiStreet

Can we see more Ador characters popping up around on the street soon?

ADOR

Definitely!

ADOR Season 2

ADOR Season 3

ADOR season 4

ADOR season 1

 

GraffitiStreet

You have also created an animation by painting the wall with different scenes, do you enjoy bringing the characters to life with movement?

ADOR

Sure I really enjoy it… I need ideas to do it again. I will search!

GraffitiStreet

You have released your first hand finished print ' lost Kid' can you give us a little bit more about his character and why he is lost in the world?

ADOR

I like the viewer to come to their own conclusions, but the image and title can influence the story.

GraffitiStreet

Whats next for Ador? where would you like to paint next? have you any more stop-motion films to produce?

ADOR

I’m still working on several projects, yes animation, volume, painting abroad and here in Nantes.

 

Ador continues to nurture his wonderful universe and characters. He is continually challenging his skills and imagination. We can see from his first work on walls right through to stop-motion films that his creative process keeps adapting and growing. With this much pace we can’t wait to see what else Ador gets up to with his future projects.
One thing for certain is that Ador pushes the concept that the viewer must be the author of their own story, prompting creative thought and ideas, something sometimes we can forget to do.

For artwork by Ador check out our store here.