This week’s artist spotlight focuses on Tumblr user chaoslindsay and her awesome and unique fandom art creations.
The Artist’s Spotlight is a Hypable weekly feature that will focus on someone who has caught our attention for fandom-related art, whether it be drawings, songs, crafts, or more! Every week you can expect a new talented artist we think you should be aware of!
My name is Lindsay, and I’m a freelance illustrator and part-time executive assistant living near Vancouver, BC. Right now I am on parental leave from the latter, so I spend far more time doing the former as well as raising one truly incredible daughter.
Fandom has been such a positive influence in my life
Fandom has been such a positive influence in my life and on my art, as there’s never a shortage of inspiration. Because it’s completely self-driven you can be as busy as you’d like, and I do like to keep busy. There’s always challenges, fanart and fanfic fests, gift art for people, and other projects to sign on to that give me a steady stream of deadlines to meet, which is a huge motivation for me. And then to just be surrounded by creative people, particularly women who are just regular Janes like me in their real lives, is a joy in my life.
What’s the first fandom you joined? Was it different from the fandom that got you started making fan art for?
The first thing I remember having what I can describe as fannish feelings for was Sailor Moon. It wasn’t very popular in my age group — I was about 7 at the time, and it wasn’t cool to like anime back then — but I really enjoyed it. Sailor Moon was a good fandom for girls who felt like they didn’t belong. I think that’s why the rerelease of Sailor Moon has been so popular: the internet is full of grown women who owe their identities, and sometimes their lives, to Sailor Moon.
It wasn’t until Final Fantasy 7 that I started doing fan art. I did… a lot of fan art about the Turks. A lot. I roleplayed. I cosplayed. I worried my parents. It was worth it, though; when I met my husband and learned he was similarly obsessed with the same motley band of minor video game characters, I knew it was true love. Thanks, fandom!
Sailor Moon was a good fandom for girls who felt like they didn’t belong
Have you always been interested in making art?
I could cop out here and say what people always say about how they have been making art since they were children, but I won’t. While it is true, it’s not a very interesting answer, nor is it very comforting to someone who wants to start drawing but feels like they’re too late.
The better, more interesting truth is that I clearly remember a day — the first day of high school, actually — that I actually told myself that I was going to be an artist. When people asked me what I did, I wanted to be able to tell them I was an artist. It was the first thing that I wanted, that I claimed for myself and wanted to put sincere effort into. So from that day onwards, that was a huge part of my identity.
What’s your favorite fandom to create fanart for?
My favorite so far has been Inception fandom, which I was in from 2010 to about 2013. It was such an incredible fandom. Because of the source material attracting older fans in general, many brought years and years of fandom experience with them. For example, having fans who’d been around the block before meant that there was always someone around who knew how to organize community and enforce common rules of good behavior, to support and encourage the people around them. This kept the whole environment a very positive space for people new to fandom, of which there were also many.
That experience, both life experience and fandom experience, meant that the quality of the work was also extremely high. I did nothing to help that — I actually lowered the average quite a bit — but that meant that every time I posted something there were a hundred critical eyes on it. Supportive and loving ones too, of course, but also critical. I was never short on people to tell me how to improve. It was formative.
Where did you get your ideas for the Mary Poppins/Ms. Frizzle fan art? That seems, honestly, like the most random pairing I’ve ever come across!
I think that was one of those random pairings that came out of a late-night Twitter conversation with some of my old Inception buddies. In fandom, you’re only ever one errant comment away from making fictional characters kiss… so honestly, it was inevitable.
Ms. Frizzle is like a fandom power fantasy. She has unusual hobbies, loves learning and sharing, and never apologizes for or feels ashamed of her passions. She’s an idol. Mary Poppins was the same for a lot of people. It wasn’t until after I finished the picture that I learned there was already existing separate fandoms for both of them where they are both Time Lords, so when I posted that picture it was like tapping in to the ids of thousands of people, across three different fandoms.
That picture alone has developed its own fandom — the ship name is Frizzlypops, I’m told — and it all started from one conversation between friends. That’s what I mean when I talk about how one of the joys of fandom is being surrounded by creative people. You just build and build off of each others’ creative energy. Together, we create much more than apart.
Your Wonder Woman art might just be my favorite piece of art ever. What inspired you to make it? Are you a huge Wonder Woman Fan?
Thank you!! It means a lot to me that that picture has been so loved, and by so many people. People tell me all the time that they’re going to put it on their affirmation walls, or share it with the young girls in their lives. To be able to touch people the way that picture has, it’s one of the true pleasures of being an artist. And being reblogged by Gail Simone? Well, that was probably the highlight of my year.
The inspiration for that one is political. When I was working on it, there were so many voices clamoring for a Wonder Woman movie. Guardians of the Galaxy had just been announced, and it has a talking raccoon in it, and DC was still saying that the world wasn’t ready for a female superhero. It was insulting. I’m still insulted, actually. So I wanted to do a WW piece to add my voice to the uprising, to the resistance. And I wanted to to one that spoke to me, to the way I wanted Wonder Woman to be in her movie. Strong, yes, but not just physically… a source of inspiration and inner strength, of curiosity in the world and the confidence to explore it.
I wasn’t planning on letting you in on my dirty little secret, but… at the risk of playing in to the ridiculous fake geek girl stereotype, I’m actually not a comic book fan! I get most of my exposure to superheroes through the new movies, and from fandom, and from cultural osmosis. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that, honestly, but I’m sharing it because I think it’s important to talk about how this time is a renaissance for comic books, a time of change and growth for characters and stories that have been locked away in only one medium. I strongly believe new fans and their voices should be welcomed, not ridiculed. We are all fans together, for different reasons.
I want a Wonder Woman movie for selfish reasons, because I want casual fans, people like me, people like my parents and my daughter, to have a chance to love Wonder Woman as much as fans of her comics do. Lowering the barriers to entry into fandom can only be positive.
Let’s talk about your Steve Rogers cathedral art for a bit. What’s the story behind that?
The story is the usual one: Steve Rogers is a man out of time. Everyone he knows from before is dead or dying. America is a completely different place. I see him as someone whose faith had been an integral part of his life — if not in his life directly, then at least in his community, as the Christian faith played a much larger role in the community and life in general then.
And then when he wakes up, one of the fundamental touchstones of American culture — something that seemed so monolithic and unchangeable that he probably took it for granted — is completely different. It only contributes to the sense of loneliness and sadness that he seems to have in CATWS.
And then on top of that, what role does faith play to a man who died and was reborn into a world where people have been idolizing him for 70 years? How does one cope with becoming a modern deity? That story is one I want to read.
At what point in Steve Rogers’ life does that piece of art take place? After or before his movie? Before Avengers?
I see it as happening after he’s awakened in the twentieth century, after The Avengers but perhaps just before The Winter Soldier. CATWS did a fantastic job evoking Steve’s isolation during that time period. I wanted to explore Steve literally having a crisis of faith — which is the title of the picture.
What are you currently working on (if anything)?
I just published my first illustrated book of queer adult fiction with three talented ladies, and I’ll be sending out the first round of orders soon. I’m also finishing up a colouring book which will be used as a crowdfunding bonus for The Switch, an upcoming TV series featuring trans characters and actors. Their Indiegogo will be live in a few weeks, and they’d sure love your support — and you’d get the colouring book, to boot!
In my personal life, I’m currently losing my mind over Game of Thrones, particularly the relationship between Jaime and Brienne. I also illustrate for Shousetsu Bang*Bang, a bimonthly zine of original queer fiction.
I’m primarily on Tumblr these days, though my professional portfolio is www.chaoslindsay.ca, and my prints are available for purchase on Storenvy. If you’re a Vancouver local, you can also find me in the artist alley at most local conventions, as well as ECCC 2015 in Seattle.
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