Renée French | |
|---|---|
 French at the 2010Alternative Press Expo | |
| Born | 1963 (age 62–63) |
| Pen name | Rainy Dohaney |
| Occupation | comics writer and illustrator |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Rob Pike |
| Website | |
| instagram | |
Renée French (born 1963) is an Americancomics writer and illustrator and, under thepen nameRainy Dohaney, achildren's book author, and exhibiting artist.
Her work is characterized by her "obsessive-looking and highly unsettling visual style."[1]
Her work includesH Day (Picturebox),The Soap Lady (inspired by the display in theMütter Museum) (Top Shelf Productions),The Ticking (Top Shelf Productions), andMicrographica (Top Shelf Productions),Edison Steelhead's Lost Portfolio: Exploratory Studies of Girls and Rabbits (Sparkplug Books), andMarbles in My Underpants (Oni Press). She also has a weekly stripThe Taint in theNew York Press. Her serialized comicBaby Bjornstrand appears on the Study Group Comic Books website.[2]The New York Times said her graphic novels "split the difference between adorable and horrifically gross";[3] writing about "Baby Bjornstrand", they called it "equal parts Daffy Duck and Samuel Beckett, and all quirky Renée French".[4]
French has a serialized illustrated story in theFantagraphics Books quarterlyMome called "Almost Sound". She is also the author of the comic book for children,Barry's Best Buddy, released byToon Books in 2013.[5]
As a child, French found a book plate of Hieronymus Bosch'sThe Garden of Earthly Delights and was enchanted by it. In regards to the influence, French stated "I don't know how many hours I stared at it under the covers, but I'd memorised each little scene within the paintings and thought about them all the time. That world was so real to me."[6]
French suffers from migraines, which she uses to her creative advantage, as detailed in her interview withWOW x WOW. Her book,H Day, is "an attempt to show what it's like to have a migraine, from the outside and the inside."[6] According to French, "most of the portraits with things exploding out of the face or the skin warping around the head, are based on the migraines."[6]
French drew both the mascot of thePlan 9 from Bell Labs operating system ("Glenda", aka "the Plan 9 Bunny"), and the gopher mascot for theGo programming language.[7]
French grew up in New Jersey, and was always drawing as a child.[6] French is married toRob Pike, one of the creators of Plan 9 from Bell Labs, and of the Go programming language at Google.[8] They split their time between the United States andAustralia.[6]
In 2007, French was nominated for a number of comics industry awards - including for best artist nods from theEisner,[9]Ignatz,[10] andHarvey Awards[11] - for thegraphic novelThe Ticking. French won theInkpot Award at the 2007San Diego Comic Con.[12]
