March Art Madness: An Interview with Previous Winners

March Art Madness 2020 has begun! We snatched a brief interview with a couple of winners from previous years, Baily Butel and Jason Lamy!

As registration for March Art Madness 2020 is ongoing, we’ve asked two winners from previous years about their experience–2018 winner Bailey Butel, from Australia, and 2019 winner Jason Lamy, from Zimbabwe. First off in our interview is Bailey, whose work can be found on Instagram at Kurolines.

What was your experience like during the competition?

Bailey: March Art Madness is pretty intense. For the entire month, each week, all you can think about is your next artwork. The competitive format and tight deadlines pushed me to my limit, but also quickly improved me as I thought of new ways to optimize my art for the time frame.

Outside of the competitive aspect, being able to see a ton of talented artists’ takes on the weekly prompts is enjoyable in its own right. In the years that I haven’t competed, just seeing the entries has been a blast.

The weekly live art shows (where judges critique and vote on your work) was probably my favorite part of the competition. Hearing the Saturday AM creator’s thoughts on each piece is really inspiring. And seeing how you stacked up against your opponent is exhilarating! Overall, a really memorable experience!

Would you say that MAM helps highlight new diverse artists?

Bailey: Well of course! Seeing as it’s a global competition, with the only entry conditions being your skill, it’s the perfect place for anyone to have a voice. No matter who you are, I encourage you to compete in the March Art Madness competition.

Next up is Jason, whose work can be found on Instagram at jasonas263.

What do you like best about the March Art Madness competition?

Jason: I’d say that best part was not knowing each week’s topic. Realizing that any theme could take me out of my comfort zone was weirdly exciting.

Has MAM challenged you to be a better artist? Would you encourage others to participate in the competition?

Jason: Definitely. The contest made me create work from themes that I wasn’t familiar with, all within a deadline. I ended up surprising myself. If anyone has the time to participate in any kind of challenge, including MAM, I think they should. Tough competition helps us all grow as artists.

Thank you both for taking the time to answer these questions! For more information on how to sign up and participate this year, click here to download the Saturday AM app! Then be sure to read Issue #2 of Fanart Friday, where the official registration will be located.

Keep an eye on our Saturday AM tag–more announcements coming soon!

Author: C. Smith

C. Smith is a lifelong fan of comics and manga whose primary interest is in webcomics.

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