A passionate traveler based in the Dordogne, Troubs (Jean-Marc Troubet) is one of France’s most distinctive graphic novelists, writers, and illustrators. His work is deeply rooted in his personal experience, with travel providing the inspiration for many of his books. Alongside acclaimed solo works such as Black Sands and 20 Weeks in Turkmenistan, he has collaborated with leading artists including Benjamin Flao on the award-winning Vaa: A Season in the Tuamotus and, most notably, his longtime friend Edmond Baudoin on Nuvanut, Viva la vida, Inuit, and Humans: The Roya Is a River. But Troubs doesn’t have to stray very far to find inspiration. A contemplative artist with a profound love of nature and wildlife, he brings the same quiet attention to books such as My Neighbor Raymond, The Birds, and Walden. In the late 2000s, Troubs joined five other prominent graphic illustrators on an extraordinary journey across France, exploring prehistoric decorated caves and creating their own artistic vision alongside that of their Paleolithic predecessors. The experience became the stunning 2011 graphic novel Rupestres, a moving record of two years spent deep beneath the earth. The adventure didn’t end there. Inspired by the cave artists they had come to admire, the group picked up palettes and brushes themselves, attempting to recreate the techniques and spirit of prehistoric painting. That remarkable project is the subject of the Rupestres exhibition and film, presented this year at Festilitt, as well as the book Pigments, to which Troubs is one of the contributing artists.