Campazine
#Inspire & Be Inspired
I know how it feels to be inspired.
It feels like I could climb to the highest mountain without the fear of falling.
Name: Lisa Mar
Age: 22
Nationality: Malaysian
Occupation: Student
Instagram: @thelisamar
Website: www.thelisamar.tumblr.com
Interviewing Lisa has made my day in a way that supports me to never give up on what I've always believed in the creation of this website-- to meet like-minded people, to meet true art enthusiasts. What surprises me is that she is also a fashion lover! Woah, thank God, it's been an inspiring day for me. Being a student herself, she is not only an artist who works on a paper, but also on her face-- she loves makeup! Perhaps this is the reason she can draw a soulful face, which is the first thing that attracted me when I saw her drawings because the facial expressions are so vivid and evocative. Specialising in watercolour paintings, the style she uses to paint the skin is also what makes her unique. If you look at her works carefully, you'll notice that each character's skin colours are different, which helps to carry out the atmosphere and aura she guides you to feel. They are not that kind of art that would make you 'WOAH' at first glance, but artworks that will make you feel something and just stare at them-- if you heedfully observe. Through the eyes, the skin colour and the title of each portrait, we can be a story teller.
From the conversation we had, I can feel that she is one who thinks that to leave impact on the others will not only be immortal, but is also pivotal. The motto 'INSPIRE AND BE INSPIRED' has become one of her motivations to keep drawing, which coincidentally is one of Campazine's missions too! The fact that we have so much in common allowed us to talk a lot, and below is the extracted version!
I hope you enjoy.
This is Lisa Mar, an artist from Malaysia.
What initiates you to start drawing?
I've been drawing since I was a kid, around 4 or 5. I used to draw on the walls, and my mom always complained that no matter how many drawing books she bought, I would always end up drawing on the walls (laughs). My parents are among the first person that sparks the whole drawing thing, but I only started to be serious in art around 3 to 4 years back.
The facial expressions you showed through your drawings are vivid, and the title makes them a bit more mysterious, I love that. How do you actually choose the character you want to draw?
Thank you! It's really nice to know that people like my artworks, other than myself (laughs).
I love to add a whole lot of mysteries to my artworks, especially in the title.
Every artwork has their own story, but I love to leave the imagination part for the viewer, I want people to interpret the story for themselves, because each artwork can represent different things for different people. I'd really love to hear people's interpretations about them. It's fun!
I choose the subject of my drawings based on what I like at the moment. It can be from my own imagination, scenes that I made up inside my head, or a movie that I watch recently. It can be anything that inspires me, I can be like browsing the Internet and I see something that I like, then I'll just draw them.
I'm especially interested in your 'Mr. Beckett'. I think Mr. Beckett is a goldfish lover who talks with goldfishes everyday because he's so lonely that they are his only friends. But one day he tells the fishes that he's going to leave the world soon because he's been very ill, and before he leaves, the goldfishes come and say goodbye to him (laughs).
Wow, that's really a good interpretation for that, love it!
Mr. Beckett is actually one of the people who inspires me the most since the beginning of my indulgence in art. I showed him an artwork I did once when I was in high school. He told me to never stop drawing and he continues to inspire me through his words since then, I always find everything that he said very amusing (laughs), and this is also the reason I felt like drawing the goldfishes because I found their tails very amusing and fascinating, just like Mr. Beckett.
I'm quite excited when I saw you drew Tom Odell! Not really many people know him but he is a really talented artist.
Oh my God you know Tom Odell! Yes totally agree with you, he's very talented. That is one of my favourite drawings so far.
And there's Tom Hiddleston in one of your drawings?
Yes, I drew him a lot actually, because he is super hot, who can resist from Tom Hiddleston! (laughs)
I used quite some time to just look at your Mermaid drawing, there are a lot of details in it, it's so good. I find that one of your styles is to use lighter colours on the hair. Did you purposely do it because you want to really show the expressions of the characters?
I spent a lot of time on that mermaid, I love detailing. And yes, sometimes I just leave the hair because I want the viewer to focus on the facial expressions.
What do you think is your biggest accomplishment as an artist?
I think the biggest accomplishment so far is that I was asked to collaborate with Suria KLCC for their International Women's Day project. It was super fun! And that is my first official art exhibition as well. I got the chance to meet other illustrators too, and to see my illustration being printed so big is just exciting!
What do you plan to do in the future? Do you plan to be a full time artist?
I plan to be a full time illustrator. I can see myself doing illustrations for fashion magazine, or illustrations for books. I'm also thinking of starting my own illustration company, because there are a lot of talents that are still left undiscoverable in Malaysia, we are too exposed to those outside of the country. I don't know what to do with my life if my future work isn't art related.
This might sound like an offensive question, but what is your view on people who often think that artists who are like a businessman are not a real artist because you're charging money on your arts?
Not offensive at all (laughs). I think it's easy. If someone wants to buy them for what it costs, then I'll sell it to them. If they don't want to buy it because they think it's expensive, then don't. Because I think the artwork is not ready to be owned by people like that yet. It's like for the wrong people at a wrong time. I think it's okay to be a businessman and an artist at the same time. Just don't let people tell you how to run them (laughs). It's your art, your business, and I treat my artworks as if they were my children, that's why free work is never in my vocabulary, although sometimes I do make exceptions for it. For example, little kids who are really into my drawings because I want to inspire them.
What kind of inspirations you want to be?
My whole life's been about to inspire and be inspired. I want people to feel inspired when they see my artworks in many ways possible, because I know how it feels to be inspired.
It feels like I could climb to the highest mountain without the fear of falling. Does that make sense? (laughs)
Do you have any message that you want to portray through your art?
I think the only thing that I always tell myself before I start drawing a new piece is HONESTY, to be honest with what I wanted to draw.
As an artist, what kind of evolution you wish to see in Malaysia in the future?
I hope that people in Malaysia will have a more positive attitude towards this kind of things. Most people think art is only a hobby, which is so not true.
It's also a problem for artists to put a price on their arts because people often think it's too expensive. But how can you put a price to someone's talent? If you like it, just show your support.
We should also encourage the artists and give them a platform to show their arts to the world, because the only thing that stops the artists right now is the courage to show their artworks to the world.
We need courage to do it or it'll never happen.