Lucky Luke - 'Daisy Town' (1983). Dutch-language version.
Pascal Dabère is a French pastel and oil painter from the Loire valley. He began his career as a comic artist, assisting Morris on the comic adaptations of the animated 'Lucky Luke' films. He also created the 'Chevalier Evanhouy' comic (1981-1982) for the French edition of Tintin magazine.
Lucky Luke
Pascal Dabère was born in 1957 in Saint Jeoire en Faucigny, a town in the French Haute-Savoie region. He started painting and drawing at age 13, and received his artistic education in Paris. At age 17, he responded to a newspaper ad of Éditions Dargaud, and sent in one of his 'Lucky Luke' drawings. The publisher hired him to work in the creative studio producing artwork for related products to the 'Lucky Luke' comic book series by Morris and René Goscinny. For instance, Dabère was responsible for the comic adaptation of the 1978 animated 'Lucky Luke' film 'La Ballade des Dalton' ('The Ballad of the Daltons'), which was serialized that same year in the comic magazines Pif Gadget (France) and Spirou (Belgium). In 1986, it was included in the regular 'Lucky Luke' book series, appearing with other previously unpublished stories in the volume ' 'La Ballade des Dalton'. In 1983, Pascal Dabère also drew the comic version of the 1971 'Lucky Luke' film 'Daisy Town'.
Evanhouy
Dabère was additionally present in the French edition of Tintin magazine, called Tintin Hebdo. Together with scriptwriter Bianchi, he created humorous short stories starring the medieval knight 'Evanhouy' (1981-1982), with artwork revealing influences from both Morris and Albert Uderzo. Dargaud released two albums of the series, 'Une Aventure d'Evanhouy' (1983) and 'Le Siège' (1984). A Danish edition of the first volume was published by Egmont in 1986 ('Ivan Hoe og Kong Filip den smukke'). Dabère additionally illustrated a few other short stories for the magazine, written by Christian Blareau and Alain Jost. After that, Pascal Dabère made illustrations for the press, before fully devoting his time to painting from 1991 onwards.
Painter
Since 1987, the artist has lived in the center of the Loire Valley, which has been a major influence on his paintings. Specialized in oil and pastel, Dabère generally paints on site. He has captured the banks of the river Loire, the surrounding landscapes, as well as flowers, portraits and still lifes. A recurring theme in his paintings is mankind's responsibility to protect nature. Since 1997, Dabère is a "Pastel Master" of the Pastel Society of France, and his work has earned him many awards and exhibitions. In 2001, he was honorary guest at the Salon de Chanceaux-près-Loches. Pascal Dabère's works are part of private collections in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Great Britain, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, and of several galleries.
Cover illustration for Tintin issue #323 (13 November 1981).