Palomar College student Stephanie Santiago quietly sketches in black pencil over the pink lines of her latest project, a blueprint for a comic book that her Illustration class is currently working on for a finished product at the end of the semester.
Santiago has been taking art classes at Palomar for several semesters, and is currently taking Concept Sketching, ARTI 100, which establishes drawing skills in perspective, form and shade before moving on to color. Santiago is interested in drawing character turnarounds, designs that show all perspectives of fictional characters they create for their comic illustrations.
“I kind of discovered it one day this year when I saw the art, basically at an open house for the Department, and this class was showing their pieces pinned on the wall,” said Santiago.
Santiago is not new to illustrating, and has been involved with art from a very early age.
“I have been drawing ever since my dad put a pen and a pad in front of me,” Santiago said. “I love art and I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, so I can’t think of anything else I’d be doing to be honest.”
In her free time Santiago’s drawings take inspiration from the cartoon style of anime.
“I do mostly character designs, a lot of character designs,” Santiago said. “I’ve had like a bunch of ideas for comics, but I have never done any until now, mostly because school.”
Santiago wishes to carry on and transfer with her art prints to Cal Poly Pomona to study Graphic Design, and her advice for anyone interested in drawing is to keep sketching, because “practice makes perfect.”