{"id":49136,"date":"2017-03-24T15:20:01","date_gmt":"2017-03-24T14:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=49136"},"modified":"2017-03-24T15:20:01","modified_gmt":"2017-03-24T14:20:01","slug":"shantell-martin-max-mara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/shantell-martin-max-mara\/","title":{"rendered":"Shantell Martin"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" Image courtesy of Instagram: @shantell_martin and @maxmara<\/p>\n

It is Paris Fashion Week and the plush Max Mara store in the city\u2019s chicest district is closed in preparation for a party later that evening. Amidst the cocktail waiters busily setting up the bar, sits illustrator Shantell Martin, framed by a large window overlooking the elegant rue Saint-Honor\u00e9.
\nThe south London-born artist\u2019s collaboration\u00a0with the Italian brand is the subject for the evening\u2019s celebrations.\u00a0Martin, known for her jaunty stream-of-continuous drawings, has applied her signature scrawl to a line of sixties-inspired sunglasses. The process involved segmenting a large scale drawing from Martin\u2019s collection into a 1000 different sections. These were then applied to 1000 pairs of sunnies, lending each a unique design.
\nMartin arrived at drawing after a varied career which first began at Central Saint Martins. \u201cI picked graphics because I thought that fine art was for rich kids. I reasoned that with graphics I would stand more chance of getting a job at the end of it all,\u201c explains Martin.
\nMartin grew up in Thamesmead \u2013 \u201cnot the nicest part of London\u201d \u2013 and found that once on the course, which\u00a0traditionally focuses on photoshop and InDesign, she barely touched a computer. She found that she focused more on the tactile work. \u201cI spent the entire three years doing conceptual drawings\u00a0or throwing milk around. And then explaining it later.\u00a0It is very similar to what I do now in fact, which is also process based. It\u2019s about the execution of the work and not so much the final result.\u201d<\/p>\n

I knew I just needed to create. I had access to pens, so I drew on the walls, my clothes, people, cars<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Shantell\u2019s poppy murals have appeared on clothes, walls, cars, and now the limited- edition sunglasses. She gets animated describing the geeky tricks she uses to achieve her drawing style. \u201cI 3D-designed and printed these tools which allow you to hold more than one marker pen at once. I can draw thick lines and thin lines at the same time \u2013 it looks like a building block in your hand.”
\nShe is very dedicated to her work, with numerous successful collaborations under her belt, most recently with Kendrick Lamar at Art Basel in Miami where the duo provided a 75-minute performance The visual artist has over 130k followers on Instagram and a fellowship at Columbia and MIT \u2013 she is clearly doing something right.<\/p>\n

She found herself going out and dancing three or four times a week, and needed to find a way to fund that<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But she wasn\u2019t always working this way. Her first career was in Japan, where she moved after graduating and carved a niche as a live club illustrator. She found herself going out and dancing three or four times a week, and needed to find a way to fund that. When she first noticed a trend for VJs (video jockeys), who mixed visuals of lips and tunnels, she says: \u201cThey struck me as totally irrelevant. They had nothing to do with what was actually happening the club. It made me think: \u2018what if I could do live drawing, either analog or digital, which could then be projected into this space?'”
\nCharacteristically\u00a0for Martin, she not only did this \u2013 but blazed a trail in club visuals. Working with\u00a0Wacom, a company that specialises in technology for VJing, Martin helped launch new drawing tablets for clubs off the back of her experimentation. Martin was lauded for bringing visuals to the forefront of clubbing and was voted one of the top ten VJs in the world.<\/p>\n

\"\" Image courtesy of Instagram: @shantell_martin<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\" Image courtesy of Max Mara<\/p>\n

During her stint in Asia, she went on a holiday to New York and fell in love with the energy of city. She decided, overnight, to move there. It was a tricky time for the illustrator, who went from being a quite successful and comfortable in Japan to being a struggling artist again in the\u00a0US.
\n\u201cI found myself de-evolving and leaving the whole video\/technology world. I jut started picking up my pens again. The great thing about drawing is you don\u2019t need a ton of money or resources to do it,\u201d she reflects.<\/p>\n

The great thing about drawing is you don\u2019t need a ton of money or resources to do it<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Martin\u2019s visionary determination came into play again. She says of the time, \u201cIt would have been easy to play the \u201cif\u201d game. \u201cIf\u201c I get a gallery, \u201cif\u201c I get a mentor, \u201cif\u201c I get money\u2026you can\u2019t do that, I knew I just needed to create. I had access to pens, so I drew on the walls, my clothes, people, cars. That is how I got started again in illustration.\u201c
\nMartin puts her success, that brand\u2019s like Max Mara are quick to want to be a part of \u2013 down to steely determination and a \u00a0dose of the American dream. She found her time in the US enlightening:\u201cI really enjoyed New York for their celebration of ambition. In that city you can be like \u201cI have this project, I have worked really hard on it \u2013 come to my exhibition. Whereas in London, you have to be like: \u201cyeeeah, I\u2019m alright. Not really doing anything.\u201d She notes that false British modesty and self-depreciation can hold some people back.<\/p>\n

I grew up in Thamesmead. Worked my arse off. Speak Japanese. Have drawn so much that now a single line is recognisably mine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Martin is a truly inspiring woman. Having navigated the notoriously macho world of DJing and now carving a niche for herself in illustration \u2013 she is refreshingly proud of these achievements. \u201cI grew up in Thamesmead. Worked my arse off. Speak Japanese. Have drawn so much that now a single line is recognisably mine\u2026 surely my story is only going to inspire other people to follow their passion? So why not share it?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The empowering illustrator on her journey from Japanese nightclubs to Paris fashion week <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49164,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[21,1589,141,2010,27,8237],"class_list":["post-49136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","tag-fashion","tag-illustration","tag-london","tag-max-mara","tag-paris","tag-shantell-martin"],"acf":{"main_category":null,"legacy":"1","exclude_from_ads":null,"hero_title":null,"subtitle":null,"hero":null,"teasers":null,"facebook_image":null,"related_articles":null,"next_article":null,"sleek_card_focus":null,"content":null},"yoast_head":"\nShantell Martin Shantell Martin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/shantell-martin-max-mara\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shantell Martin Shantell Martin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The empowering illustrator on her journey from Japanese nightclubs to Paris fashion week\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/shantell-martin-max-mara\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sleek Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sleekmag\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-24T14:20:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@sleekmag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sleek\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5\u00a0Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/\",\"name\":\"Sleek Magazine\",\"description\":\"Sleek is Germany\u2019s leading independent media house\/brand for creativity and innovation located in Berlin the creative capital of the world. 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