Artist Feature: Marissa
“You learn by doing, and there’s nothing wrong with being self-taught.”
Mari is an independent fan-artist living near a woodland area in Portland. When she isn’t drawing, she cooks, walks in the park, chats with online friends, and plays video games.
How long have you done art? What mediums have you tried?
I’d say I’ve been drawing a good chunk of my life. Growing up on the autism spectrum (plus ADHD), my motor skills were slower to develop, so I had to take occupational therapy classes to build them in elementary school. Meanwhile, I’d get in trouble for drawing in class- all the time. But I knew I wanted to draw the cartoons I saw on television and in the movies, and I continued to keep drawing. In middle school, I drew at any opportunity. I studied cartoons and art styles and read countless books on drawing. I continued these practices through high school, where I discovered that drawing actually helped me focus better in class, so it was made into an accommodation for me. You see - I always, ALWAYS, feel a need to stim. Whether that’s fidgeting, shaking my legs, slightly rocking or swaying - turns out, drawing counted as this as well, and it was the least distracting and least disruptive method of stimming in public, especially school. Moving on to community college, at least half the classes I took were art classes, so I got some mentoring and tutoring in, even though I’ve mostly been self taught.
As for mediums, I used to carry sketchbooks around all the time in high school and in community college, and mostly drew on paper with mechanical and colored pencils until 2014, when I began the switch to digital. Equipped with a laptop, a Wacom Splash tablet, and Paint Tool SAI, these have been my tools ever since, upgrading to a Wacom Intuos Pro as of October 2020. Recently, I got my hands on an iPad Air and an Apple Pencil - loyal as I’ve been to Paint Tool SAI for almost 7 years, it is time for me to upgrade and learn to use Procreate.
How would you describe your style?
I’d say my style is mostly inspired by traditionally animated Disney movies, especially the work of former Disney animator, Glen Keane, who I’d say I owe 70% of my art style to. Add in a little Studio Ghibli and popular action cartoons like Avatar and She-Ra and you’ve got my main art style.
People tell me the first thing they notice about my art style is my lineart. So, that’s my signature, then. I don’t think much about it, I just do it, with a good stabilizer setting (I usually have it set to S-3 in Paint Tool SAI). I’m a perfectionist, so I often spend a lot of time going over the sketch multiple times until I have down what I want the lineart to look like before going over it on my “designated lineart layer”. A lot of strokes and Ctrl+Zs over the course of two or more hours (depending on if I am listening to anything or not, I work most efficiently in silence), and there’s my lineart.
Tell us your Lore Olympus story.
I got into LO a little late in the game, but first heard of it in late 2019. Somehow I had never heard of Webtoon until August 2019, when I first saw an advertisement for Castle Swimmer on Instagram. So I read that series, then stumbled upon Let’s Play, and the next thing I knew, I had downloaded the app and was subscribing to a bunch of more stories. When reading Let’s Play, I saw Lore Olympus being recommended, which was Webtoon’s #1 series. I had planned on getting around to reading it sooner, but it was fall and I had a lot on my plate: October art prompts, preparing for an anime convention, the fact I was working retail during the busiest time of the year, and being distracted by a shiny new Pokemon game (when I wasn’t drawing). I had completely forgotten about Webtoon until…..2020 happened.
In mid-March last year, when the world shut down and was in a panic, I, like many, needed to escape to a safe, fictional world. And so I opened up Webtoon, and began reading through several comics: Siren’s Lament, Acception, Axed, and then after spending weeks playing Animal Crossing, I began reading Lore Olympus in April. And I couldn’t put it down. Over two or three days, I caught up with the whole series, purchased Fast Pass coins - and the recent Fast Pass episode that came out that Saturday in April was THE KISS. Needless to say, I was now a loyal fan. I joined Rachel’s Patreon, followed her on Twitter and Instagram, joined the Discord, picked up my tablet pen, and in May, I drew and posted my first ever LO fanart.
How has fan art changed your style or helped you grow?
I’ve drawn fanart more than I’ve drawn any other kind of art, so I’d say fanart’s what really made my style what it is, and the style for whatever original work I’d like to create (if that ever happens, I may just do fanart forever, who knows). I kinda feel like the style I have now evolved outside of fanart, but the seeds may have been planted in middle and high school when I began imitating the manga look before switching to the Disney-esque art style I have today.
I will say, however, that drawing Lore Olympus fanart has helped me a lot with drawing male characters and different head shapes, as prior to LO I had a bit of a “same face syndrome” with drawing characters. Now here I am drawing faces and heads using a variety of different shapes than I ever have before. I hope to go further with that in the future.
Which Lore Olympus fan art are you most proud of and why?
Gee, which one do I pick? If I could only choose one, it’d have to be this drawing from way back last summer just as LO was starting back up again. Since it’s 7 months old, I’m thinking of redrawing it whenever I have the time to, since I think I can do better on the hand (especially Hades’ hand around Persephone’s waist), as well as their bodies. It was my first time drawing Hades in his starry primordial form, and I am particularly pleased with how he turned out in it. I thought this picture captured their passion and unconditional love for each other, showing them kiss in their god forms. You can feel the emotion in it.
If you could body snatch one LO character for a day, who would it be?
Definitely one of the dogs, most likely Cerberus or Pomelia. It’d be paradise to be the spoiled fur baby of the King and Queen of the Underworld, with only the finest dog food, toys, grooming - and of course, all the cuddles.
Do you have any goals or aspirations for your fan art?
Honestly, I have no idea. When I was younger, I wanted to be an animator, then I wanted to be a comic book artist, then an animator again…then I realized I couldn’t make up my mind, and time was getting away from me. My internalized ableism over my neurodivergence was an obstacle which made these dreams harder to reach, and I just kinda gave up on college. Fortunately, this is the age of the internet, so when one outlet may not work for you, another can. I could do a series for Webtoon one day starring my monster characters - but first I need to learn how to do comics, backgrounds, better perspective, AND to work more efficiently, because the rate I work at now is just not gonna cut it for a comic series. But hey, if Rachel, who also has ADHD, can do it, then so can I.
Any advice for someone looking to build their art skills?
You remember that viral video from several years back of Shia LaBeouf standing in front of a green screen and yelling “DO IT!! JUST!!! DO IT!!!”? That meme is the truth though. You learn by doing, and there’s nothing wrong with being self-taught. Art classes ARE expensive and not everyone can afford them. When teaching yourself, I recommend looking for books on drawing at your local library. Books on drawing for beginners and simple cartoons, for example, are good places to start, so is drawing basic shapes (from squares to cubes). There are plenty of video tutorials on YouTube for learning how to draw, too (which I didn’t have teaching myself back in the day, but now we do)! The most important thing you’re going to need, however, is patience. It’s going to take years and years to develop your skills, your eye, and your coordination. Starting out is gonna be frustrating, but just keep drawing every day. Draw what you see around you, observe people, observe animals, observe your world, and put that on paper. As a perfectionist myself, I know the struggle of trying not to expect perfection, and I have to keep reminding myself not to. You, too, must remind yourself not to expect perfection, either. Nothing’s ever perfect. But the more you sharpen your skills over time, the better your art is going to get - and you get there by picking up a pencil or a tablet pen and JUST DOING IT.
Just for fun: Who did you get on this quiz?
I got Russell, the silly Shiba Inu who can’t be trusted alone in the house! I can certainly say I have his energy and love of mischief, though I don’t need ear drops precisely at 2pm each day. Would I like to see more Russell in LO? Definitely!
Mari is an independent fan-artist living near a woodland area in Portland. Her neighbors include beavers, ducks, geese, bunnies, raccoons, garden snakes, herons, hawks, frogs, and tons of squirrels. When she isn’t drawing, Mari is cooking, going for walks in the nearby park, chatting with the friends she’s made through LO on Discord and Instagram, and playing various video games. She’s very partial to the mediums of animation, video games, and theater, and has an affinity for fashion. Follow Mari on....
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