Portrait of Marine Dove with one of her illustrations © Marine Dove

While scrolling on TikTok, you might have seen Marine Dove and her impersonations of everyday characters. Yet behind her image as a comedic influencer on social media, Marine is an artist above all: her first graphic novel, Carnet de Foule, was released on October 14th. Artsper went to meet the person who perfectly combines humor, observation and drawing.

1. Hello Marine! Can you introduce yourself and tell us about your background, especially on social media?

Hello! I'm Marine Dove, I'm a graphic novel author and I also do a bit of comedy on social media platforms like TikTok! I started out on Instagram by posting small, often comedic illustrations, with a focus on drawing. Meanwhile, in a totally recreational way, I started doing comedy on TikTok. It used to be a way to make fun of my former teachers by embodying situations that everyone knows, and then it blew up. I gained followers, and thanks to this community, I am now able to talk about my true vocation: comics.

2. Very quickly, you became one of the most appreciated French TikTok influencers and you exceeded a million followers. How do you explain your success?

I'm glad to know that! I think the reason people like my impersonations is because they are familiar, and almost everyone can relate to them. I like to imitate moms, teachers, characters that we often meet in real life. There is nothing but realness in my imitations and people are touched to recognize their own memories. From time to time, I also bring in a bit of absurd and offbeat humor. Some people like this crazy side!

On the left: illustration by Marine Dove, on the right: photograph of the beach, Antibes © Marine Dove

3. Your videos are universally funny. As mentioned earlier, you parody a lot of everyday personalities that we all know... Have you always had these observation skills?

Yes, I have always had a keen sense of observation, but I owe it to my mother who let me follow her everywhere from a young age. Tea rooms, dinners, the bank, stores, even the opera... I was glued to her and her group of friends. So I had time to observe them, down to the smallest attitude. And even as I grew up, I cultivated this reflex of retaining small details about people.

4. In addition to making people laugh, you write and draw. Your graphic novel Carnet de Foule was released on October 14th. How long have you been drawing and where does this passion come from?

Carnet de Foule was released on October 14th, it's incredible... I've been drawing since I was a little girl. In fact, it's a story I tell quite often, but I don't remember the exact moment I realized that drawing was my passion. On the other hand, I remember in kindergarten a child once criticized my drawing, and I felt offended: "How can she say that when drawing is my thing?" As for comics, it was when I was about 7 years old, in a room at my uncle's house in the countryside. There was a pile of comics and I discovered this superb concept of the alliance between dialogue and drawing, I was immediately won over and it was the beginning of the adventure!

5. Who is your favorite contemporary artist?

Instinctively, I would say Jean-Michel Basquiat. I love that "child's notebook inspiration" aspect. There is spontaneity in all of his work and some of it is so electric and bubbly that I always have that childlike feeling when looking at it...

On the left: Carnet de Foule in a bookshop in Bordeaux, on the right: illustration by Marine Dove © Marine Dove

6. But in the end, we're not surprised to find out you're an artist. On your Instagram account, you also post about arts and culture alongside your drawings. How important is culture to you, and what are your main inspirations?

For me, culture is essential and useful to everyone. I never judge someone who lacks culture in a domain, we have the right to not know everything and to focus our cultural interest on certain domains... but the important thing is to have the will. Art is the symbol of a country, a city, an era... Media conveys information about the world, but through time, culture persists.

I am very interested in cinema and its great figures: actors as well as directors and musicians, for example Françoise Dorléac, Catherine Deneuve, Louis de Funès, Jacques Demy, Fanny Ardant... But also in literature and comics, as well as in painting like Monet, Cézanne, Chagall, Kahlo, Mondrian. I am also interested in music with all that it accompanies (opera, ballet). For example, I appreciate Michel Legrand, Charles Aznavour, Alain Chamfort, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin...

7. Carnet de Foule is the first volume of the "Carnets de Marine Dove": should we expect to see you regularly in bookshops?

Yes! Carnet de Foule is number 1 of the saga "Les carnets de Marine Dove," and I can't wait to be able to unveil the name and theme of notebook number 2!