Fandom Spotlight: Madison Marshall

Meet Madison Marshall! Also known as ‘madagasc.art.’ Maddie is a 23 year old artist and designer from Australia. Her incredible zine about Bo Burnham’s Inside recently caught our eye. We had the chance to talk with her a bit about the creative benefits of making fanart, The Green Knight’s impeccable vibes, and what she is working on next. Check it out below!

Describe yourself in 3 words.

Passionate, learning, stubborn.

 

How long have you been creating art? What mediums or techniques do you like to work with?

I’ve been creating art since the moment I could hold a pencil, but I wouldn’t say it was any good until the end of high school! I spent most of my time learning to draw with pencils and markers, so it’s definitely the medium I’m most comfortable in, but I also like to try out lots of other mediums. I’ve learned painting, sewing, pottery, animation, collage, and now digital art. I found the jump from traditional to digital surprisingly easy, but I attribute that to all the work I’ve absorbed from other artists I admire. My main inspirations are the Drawfee show on YouTube, as well as flesh.png and Audra Auclair on Instagram. I would also say that my style is heavily influenced by Mark Crilley on YouTube, since I learned a lot from him in late primary school when I really started to take art seriously.

Do you find drawing or design more fulfilling? Or what is different about it for you?

For me, I’ve found that art is more of a personal activity that I do for fun, whereas design is a more professional side of that hobby that I would be happy to turn into a career. I don’t want art to ever feel like a chore, because even when I want to draw I sometimes struggle and it ends up becoming a chore. So I never want to tie my income to that, when I know that at any moment that creative spark can just vanish for weeks or months at a time. But design feels a lot more constant. It has rules and conventions you can follow to make something objectively good, even if the style will go out of fashion. It’s something that I do enjoy doing for work even if the subject matter doesn’t always interest me.

What is it that drives you to create fanart?

I’ve always found that media I really enjoy usually ends up inspiring me to then make something of my own, the latest thing being the unique animation style of Arcane. Art block is a real struggle, so when you find something that inspires you, why resist drawing fanart of it? I hate the idea that fanart is inherently derivative, since it’s based on something you didn’t create yourself; you still put time and effort into it, and being able to share it with other fans can be really rewarding.

 

 

The legality around fanart/fiction is also tricky, I find it so frustrating when creators crack down on fan works, it just stifles the creativity and community that often keeps these properties relevant in between the release of new books, films, albums, etc. It’s also a great way for artists to connect with the creators that inspired them, I’ve had many people I look up to interact with my work, either by simply liking it or even commenting, and it’s an amazing feeling. One of my favorite memories is when I posted fanart of Bo Burnham’s film Eighth Grade on Twitter and several people from the film liked it, including Elsie Fisher and Bo himself. It was so exciting but also embarrassing because I really didn’t like how that drawing turned out!

Tell us about your process. How much planning is involved with each piece?

The most planning I’ll do for a piece is picking reference images and setting up a vague composition that I’ll often reject. I’ve learned not to plan too far ahead because I can get too caught up in my idea for the final product, but I still have to set up some structure so that it’ll actually turn out ok. But if I just kinda ‘go with the flow’ for the most part then I’m much more likely to stick with the drawing and also enjoy the process. A full illustration can take anywhere from a couple hours to a few days depending on the level of detail and the medium. If it’s a more realistic piece then I can spend ages getting it where I want, but if it’s more cartoony I tend to force myself to stop early on so I don’t overdo it.

 

 

What do you find the most challenging to draw? 

Two things! Facial hair and armor. I rarely have to draw armor, but the few times I’ve tried it’s been so hard. Something about the layering and abnormal shapes just messes with my brain. I also love the aesthetic of armor, so this is a very upsetting problem. And facial hair is even more frustrating because it’s a lot more common! I usually end up either getting rid of it altogether, or going all in and giving them a full beard, it’s one or the other!

What about your art or process do you think has improved the most in the past 2-3 years? What do you think made you improve?

I think making zines was the best thing to happen to me artistically, because zines are all about imperfection and the rawness of handmade work, so it really helped me shake off my perfectionism as well as pushing through to finish a project rather than losing motivation halfway. I found myself making a lot more art and being proud of it even when certain things went wrong. Letting yourself make mistakes and just ‘bad’ art in general is very freeing when you’ve grown up wanting everything to look perfect and professional. The other fun side to it is that at the end you have a physical book you can hold in your hands of all the work you made, it’s really rewarding and motivates me to do it all over again.

What fandoms have you been in and created art for? And what are you currently obsessing over?

The very first fandom I ever drew fanart for was I guess the “YouTube fandom” in general, but more specifically Smosh, Kalel Kitten, Joey Graceffa, Anna Akana, and a lot of the “British crew.” The very first fanart I posted online was of Anthony Padilla and Kalel’s channel Watch Us Live And Stuff, what a throwback! I’m not sure what it was that drew me to them specifically, maybe it was the iconic 2010’s hairstyles…

I then branched out into whatever media I was interested in, mostly Disney, Marvel, and anime such as Death Note and Studio Ghibli films. My current obsession is the new Pixar film Turning Red, so you can definitely expect some fanart of that soon!

I’d love to talk a little bit about your Bo Burnham zine project. How did it evolve as you were working on it?

I started working on the Bo Burnham zine literally the week Inside was released, as I needed some kind of creative outlet to process everything. It covered so many topics in so many ways and my head was filled with thoughts and emotions, so it was a good way to turn them into something I could take out of my head and hold in my hands. It initially started with the “White Woman’s Instagram” pages, since I liked the idea of showing all of the photos in the typical Instagram profile grid. I kept going back to it every month or so to add new thoughts I had about the special, new drawings, rearrange pages, add more quotes, it was a really fun but long process. I also used it as a way to process my own experience with the pandemic, which changed a lot from the start of the project to the end. The main challenge was just deciding when to be done with it, and I eventually reached a point where I’d stopped going back to the special to comfort-watch, so I felt like I was finally done picking it apart and turning to it for answers during this weird time.

 

What is your favorite song from Inside?

Definitely “Welcome To The Internet,” I think the lyrics and rhythm capture the experience of the internet so well, and I love the Disney-villain vibes Bo’s performance gives off. It’s so fast-paced that it literally feels like “anything and everything all of the time,” but it’s still a fun enough song that I can enjoy it rather than feel overwhelmed by it. However, my most-listened-to-song is actually “Don’t Wanna Know,” which initially surprised me but it does connect with me in a way that’s hard to put into words. “It wouldn’t make a difference, still I don’t wanna know” always hits me. I also love “All Eyes On Me” and “That Funny Feeling”; they sum up the general anxiety of the present day perfectly, and every time I listen to them it feels like the first time.

What has been your favorite work of art you have created?

It’s so hard to pick a favorite piece since your art is always improving, and your taste always changes, so I’d say my current favorite illustration is of Keira Nightley’s character in the film Atonement. It was my first time illustrating digitally on a graphic tablet screen, and after years of dabbling in digital art in different ways it just came really naturally to me and I was really happy with how it turned out. It’s one of the few times the final piece looks almost exactly as I pictured it. There are still things I would change, but that’s inevitable. At the end of the day it’s a piece I always find myself going back to and I’m still proud of it.

 

 

I’m also really in love with the art you did for The Green Knight. What was your experience seeing that movie, and what did you enjoy about it?

The Green Knight is such a strange film, so even though I know I didn’t fully understand it, I loved its fresh take on the tale and the unique visual style. I remember falling in love with the crown design when the poster was initially teased. The last act in particular just gripped me and I couldn’t look away, the ending really gives you that drama and mystique that I like in fairytale/medieval stories. I definitely understand people who don’t like it because of how confusing it is, but I’ve found that if a film is creative enough I can accept not fully getting it. Just watch it for the vibes if nothing else.

 

 

So whats next for you? Do you have any upcoming projects or ideas you want to work on?

I’m currently very excited for the new Florence + The Machine album; I love the songs she’s released so far and the visual style of the album looks gorgeous. So I’m considering making a zine based on that, since it looks like a fun style to experiment with, and some of the lyrics have already inspired me so much. And I’m definitely going to make something based on Turning Red, whether it’ll be a zine or just a series of illustrations, I’m for sure making something! Go watch it if you haven’t, it’s so good.

 

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Love this art as much as we do? Here’s where to find Maddie online! 

Instagram: madagasc.art

Issuu (with all her zines): here

Portfolio page: behance

If you’d like a copy of the Bo Burnham zine you can buy it here: blurb.com