With the blue wave, there's unlimited 'smurfing' in Cogolin!

"Drawing is within everyone's reach ," exclaims Miguel Diaz Vizoso, smiling and holding a blue pencil. During their local tour, the Smurfs stopped off at the Cogolin media library. The official illustrator of the famous comic strip was in the town to host a day dedicated to the ninth art.

Between drawing workshops and book signings, children and adults were able to immerse themselves in the world of the little blue elves. This stop is organized as part of its "La vague Bleue" tour, which has swept across the Gulf of Saint-Tropez and will conclude tomorrow with a visit to the Grimaud school.

" It's not that I have a particular connection with the region, but when you're Belgian, you often look for warmth... And me, with my Spanish origins, the South speaks to me," says Miguel Diaz Vizoso. The artist makes no secret of his attachment to the Côte d'Azur coast, already well-attended during previous signings in Saint-Raphaël and Sainte-Maxime. The invitation from the association Les Bulles du Golfe, led by Olivier Lechevestrier, finally convinced him.

Transmit the line and the reading

His goal is clear: to spark a spark in young people. " I want to show children that drawing is accessible. All it takes is good advice, the right technique, and a little perseverance," the artist enthusiastically confirms. "I didn't go to drawing school; I trained myself to reproduce Peyo's characters, just like when children adapt to my style through my sketches. You're not born a comic book artist; you also have to know how to adapt to someone else's style ," he adds.

But beyond drawing, the illustrator convincingly reminds us that reading remains a gateway to infinite worlds: " There are not only telephones, tablets and computers to take children to extraordinary worlds! "

According to him, media libraries and schools are places where his messages really resonate.

With every stroke of the pencil he transposes onto his easel in front of admiring children, he shares the entire world of the Smurfs. An imaginary world he passionately perpetuates.

What about the Smurfs in 2025?

The question often comes up: do little elves still appeal to today's children? For Miguel Diaz, the answer is a resounding yes: "They're everywhere: in comics, on television, in movies, on gaming platforms... But what I want to remind young people is that comics still exist, and that they can be a gateway to reading in general. "

The secret to their longevity? " Since the caveman days, what has made humanity is brotherhood, the group, and mutual aid. And these are precisely the values ​​of the Smurfs ," he says.

Three generations of readers

The Smurfs weave a thread between the ages: " I have people signing books who are over sixty and say to me: ' This is my whole childhood.' And then there are forty-somethings who knew the cartoons, and now their children are discovering comics. It's a family heritage, a continuous chain of dreams. "

Just like the comic book series created by Peyo in 1958, passed down from hand to hand between several artists, Miguel Diaz Vizoso, formerly an educator, joined the studio in the early 2000s.

More than 25 years of dreams and beautiful stories... which are far from over for this Spanish-Belgian.