DIGITAL ART AND ITS FUTURE : Q&A WITH MARISSA CHAN

“I think every artist criticizes themself the most. Sometimes you’ll see flaws in your art that other people won’t. I get insecure about my art a lot but I just keep telling myself, as long as I like my most recent drawing more than my past drawings, I’m improving and that’s good.”

Marissa Chan is a 16 year old digital artist in the Greater Vancouver area. Chan started becoming serious about art around fifth and sixth grade, and began to learn about anatomy and the basics of traditional art. She defines her style as a gradual process and always evolving.

When she came into high school, she experimented with digital art and started her instagram account. Her Instagram account @marsnstarss, now with over 8K followers, showcases her personality through various characters and fan art.

She is in the IB (International Baccalaureate) Art program in her school and says it’s going very well and she’s “learning about building a portfolio, about other artists and art history, which influences your art. I didn’t have much knowledge about art history until IB art”.

Her future aspirations are undecided at the moment. Chan would like to have a career in the arts such as being an animator, storyboard artist or an art teacher. However, she has a great interest in film and would love to dive into that one point in her life.

“Since it’s winter, I drew my characters in cozy outfits. I haven’t developed much of a story for them but they are reoccurring characters in my art”
“SINCE IT’S WINTER, I DREW MY CHARACTERS IN COZY OUTFITS. I HAVEN’T DEVELOPED MUCH OF A STORY FOR THEM BUT THEY ARE REOCCURRING CHARACTERS IN MY ART”
inspired by the image on the left
INSPIRED BY THE IMAGE ON THE LEFT
Will Digital art become more popular?
"Yes I think so. Since it is convenient and easy. “Easy” is not the right word but it is all i can think of. Digital art is not easy, it takes skill. Art takes skill. Digital art is everywhere, you think it’s cool and you want to try it out.”
What is one thing you will you could change about the art industry?
"Plagarism is a problem. I have had my art stolen before. This person took my drawing, put a crappy filter on it and posted it on Instagram. Somebody messaged me and alerted me that this person did this. I reached out to the person who took my art and told them it is wrong. The person never responded to what I had to say, they took the art down yeah, but I don’t think they learned from it. This account blocked me later on and I can’t find them, I hope they eventually learn that stealing other people’s work is never okay.“
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Where do you see art in 20 years and how will society appreciate it?
“I see a more corporate takeover with art … what I mean by that is you’re gonna see big companies use artists to make whatever they’re doing and you won’t know the artist behind it, and that's already a problem. You’ll see an animated movie and they show the credits and you kind of look over that, you don’t realize that all those people are individuals, you look past it.”
Is that a corporate takeover bad thing?
“Maybe not. If artists are being fairly paid and are happy with being apart of the project their working on along with many others, it’s alright. But, companies can treat their workers pretty bad and overwork them with unfair pay, and that’s a problem that needs to be fixed.”
What type of impact do you want to leave people with your art?
“It’s really touching to see comments saying how they are motivated to draw when they see my work, or they like my characters, or like my art style. I always look at other artists style and say to myself "why can’t I do that?". I remind myself I can’t compare myself to others, because that’s not healthy. There are so many good things to look at, and you can only provide one profile. It is really flattering though, when people say those things, because I know that same feeling when looking at other peoples work thinking, “Oh my god! That’s so good!”. That makes it worth while.”

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