" . . . Arches has recently been granted "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" (Living Heritage Company) status, in recognition of its ancestral know-how in the field of high quality paper making. It joins a prestigious club whose members include famous French names such as Hermes, Cristalleries Saint-Louis, Baccarat, Chanel, De Buyer, Garnier Thiebaut and Imagerie d'Epinal.
The "Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant" (EPV) label is an official French mark of recognition introduced in May 2006 and awarded by the Ministry for the Economy and Finances. It is only granted to a few elite French companies. It is valid for a period of five years and encompasses manufacturers who strive to uphold the excellence of their industrial or artisan know-how and the high quality of their products.
They act as ambassadors for "Made in France" quality and on a daily basis they contribute to France's economic and cultural identity.
When Christopher Columbus set out for America in 1492, master papermakers were already hand making paper in the Arches paper mill located in the Vosges region of France.
As the production processes have gradually become industrialized, the mill - since 1895 - uses a cylinder mould in the manufacture of watercolor paper gelatin-sized "to the core."
Doug's first full-page color cartoon was published in the September 1964 (p. 205) issue; over the decades Playboy's published close to 500 of his cartoons - ALL rendered on Arches of France cold press watercolor paper.
Likewise, Doug's commissions,
11 x 17 and
10 x 14 originals are ALL rendered on Arches of France cold press watercolor paper.
(notice the grain of the Arches of France cold press watercolor paper)
To see available
Playboy cartoon originals, preliminary pencil and color roughs, loose-style unpublished gag roughs and original art, visit the Doug Sneyd Premium Gallery at:
Doug works on the third floor of his home-studio in Orillia, which is 80 miles north of Toronto.
(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)
