Dylan Haviland – Arts & Entertainment Editor
Megan Miskowicz, a senior graphic design major, faced the impressively sized drawing paper, arriving to class early and adding in small detail to her sketch with shadow and texture. Her near finished product was a warm image of cereal overflowing near a shiny mug of coffee, traced on the milk is the outline of a heart.
Nestled amongst the shadows and vases Miskowicz sketched in a miniscule anime character, Charmander from Pokemon. Her own personal touch adds a sense of comfort and homeliness to the artwork, reflecting on her interest in different mediums of art and reading.
“I’m really big into Japanese culture,” said Miskowicz, “So I draw a lot of anime characters.”
Her interest in anime’s unique style and design began when she watched Japanese programs when she was younger, such as Pokemon. In her own anime artwork she prefers to draw a more modern design style to her characters. An anime that inspires her work is Toradora!
“I have my own characters and sometimes I do commissions for other people and I’ll draw theirs too,” said Miskowicz. “Usually what it is they’ll send me a reference picture of their character or a description and I’ll just draw it for them.”
At the university and her major Miskowicz includes a wide variety of style to her work; from charcoal to colored pencils. Her focus is drawing digitally, in which she uses a tablet as her “digital canvas.”
“In school it is more of a realistic approach than what I normally do,” said Miskowicz. “It’s a lot different stuff I do at home [which is] more intense with color.”
Several paintings by Miskowicz include a refined blend of color and texture. Her ice cream sundae painting includes two delicate glasses holding pastel colored ice cream; the pink, yellow and white flowing into each other.
She plans on using her graphic design degree to work in illustration or web design. Currently her more commercial work is different from her personal projects, but she would like to see them combined in the future.
“You just need to practice all you can to get better,” said Miskowicz.
Photo Credit: Dylan Haviland – Arts & Entertainment Editor