Photo Courtesy of the Cauley sisters

From sharing the same aisle to sharing the same passion, Megan and Madison Cauley fuel their twin flame through art. Since elementary school, the girls have grown their artistic spirit side by side and are now both looking to go into animation. “Madi is one of my biggest inspirations and motivators, there’s always something we can learn from each other,” Megan said. (Photo courtesy of Madison Cauley)

Ever since childhood, when they worked on the same canvas, juniors Megan Cauley and Madison Cauley brought their interests and emotions to life through a shared love for art. The two continue to inspire each other, although they have very different work styles. Recently, the twins brought their talents to a new platform: Instagram.

“I believe sharing art is important to society because it connects people. It helps us meet people that have the same passion, but [it] also helps us understand the artist and see a different life perspective than we usually would see,” Madison said. “I’ve always been kind of hesitant to share my work. Even though I’m proud of it, I’m a very private person and have trouble sharing things, especially my art, since it’s such a personal thing for me.”

Madison originally made her page to share work with friends, but it has become a career-driven platform. She now has 268 followers on her Instagram, @starbunnixx, which has driven her to publish more work. 

“Since I plan on pursuing a career in animation, it is beneficial to make connections. Putting my art out there is a great way to do that. I also like to use it as a way to go back and look at how much I’ve progressed as an artist,” Madison said. 

Like her sister, Megan seeks a career in animation and shares her work with her 981 followers on @candy_crescent, conveying ideas to people who can relate or share the same interests. 

“It can unite people by representing their lifestyles and cultures,” Megan said. “Sharing my art with the public is important to me, and I’m very grateful I do it. I’m glad I can make people happy with my art, and I’ve gained a lot of support. Whether the attention I get is positive or negative, it helps me learn what I need to improve on in my pieces which is also helpful.”

When Megan first created her account, she learned about art commissions: the possibility of selling art to her following. She has not sold any original artwork but hopes it will become a more significant aspect of her artistic life.

“First I was shy to share and sell my work since I saw all these people who were so good, and it made me nervous,” Megan said. “They inspired me to work harder to learn proportions and colors until, eventually, I shared my work and received a lot of praise; it felt amazing.”

While sharing similar Instagram platforms, Megan and Madison’s styles vary. In school, Madison tends to aim for surrealism or semi-realism. 

“I don’t have a theme for my Instagram. I post whatever I want and whatever I’m able to. I do focus on more character art than anything else, and personally, I think Megan is much more advanced in her art than I am,” Madison said. “We both have very different styles. I only recently started taking my art seriously, but she’s been seriously drawing for a while. Her artwork looks so professional.” 

Currently interested in character design, painting and drawing, Megan takes inspiration from Madison’s character art. In addition, the two enjoy digital art, working from an iPad using Procreate.

“My work is full of my styles, where I add my unique point to it. Madison’s work is very cartoony, which I love because it’s not always realistic,” Megan said. 

Influenced by their past interests, the twins currently have different means of inspiration. Madison is inspired by social media or things she has seen on the internet.

“We’re very influenced by the artists we liked or shows and stories we watched and read. My style is much more cartoony because I watched, and still watch, a lot of cartoons. I’m also inspired by Pinterest; it’s an amazing place to find inspiration. I usually like to look at pictures of natural things, like forests, flowers, animals, etc.,” Madison said. “I love looking at digital paintings. Anything with smooth shading is just so beautiful to me. I also like the texture that paintings have.” 

Megan often bases her work on emotions while taking inspiration from other artists.

“Other artists, both ones in my class or in general, are very inspiring to me. They make you think of things you wouldn’t have thought of before, such as how to convey a message in a certain way, what materials you can use to enhance your ideas and more,” Megan said. “I also usually base my ideas off of expression and the different feelings different situations give you, so I think music inspires me since it can do similar things in the sense of drawing out these emotions in people.”

As a final means of inspiration, the twins love bouncing ideas and feedback off of each other. The twins also like creating separate works that connect.

“In AP Art, we have a series of questions to ask each other and get feedback. I’ll ask [Madison] what she thinks of my work and make adjustments. We used to work together just like that when we were younger, often on the same canvas,” Megan said. “Whenever we draw together, we usually design or create characters. We’ve developed a few casts of characters over the years.”

A year ago, Megan planned to create a webcomic, a digital comic published online, based on one of many story ideas the two came up with. 

“[The characters were for] an apocalypse-based story and they had to figure out who started it, sort of like a solve the mystery type plot,” Megan said. “I asked Madi if they wanted to help me make characters for this comic, and that’s essentially how it went. We worked together to come up with ideas both for each character and for the story and it was fun. It meant a lot to me because I was able to create this big project with them, and I’ve always wanted to make something like this, even if I never publish it.”

Art is an essential aspect of the Cauley twins’ lives. It unites them with each other, their family, friends and audience and guides them in other areas of their life. Megan believes art helps her to express complicated emotions and create new friends who have similar interests. Madison has similarly been able to apply skills she has learned through art to other areas of her life.

“Art helps me think creatively and makes problem solving a bit easier. If you make a mistake in your artwork, you can’t always start over or erase it, so it’s helpful to have good problem solving skills,” Madison said. “Problem solving skills are also just important in life in general.”

Megan feels that she has grown a lot in her artwork due to Madison’s friendship and influence. 

“It makes us closer because it gives us something to do together. We can bounce ideas off each other, show each other our work and really understand what the other was trying to portray,” Megan said. “To be completely honest, I probably wouldn’t have grown as much without her influence on my art.”