Drawing from the past

Inspired by her sister and painters of old, Savanna Byington, a senior studying art, tries to impact the world through illustration.

“I didn’t really start to take illustration seriously till college,” said Byington. “It was my sister who really inspired me to pursue illustration and art. She started and after she stopped I really got into it, because younger sisters have to copy their older sisters.”

Though Byington has learned new art forms in college, she still prefers illustration.

“With illustration you are telling a story. That is why I’m drawn more towards it,” Byington said.

Byington said that her style is more cartoon-like, so she is hoping to go into visual development where characters and backgrounds are designed for various types of media. She is also interested in illustrating for books.

Byington was inspired by the works of classic Renaissance painters, such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci.

“I love everything about their paintings. It is so smooth, and it tells a story and that is really awesome to me,” Byington said.

She recently went on an art tour where she saw various Renaissance art pieces, learned how to network, and thought about the impact of illustration on the world.

“When you get the viewer to relate to your message then you can really impact them, and if you can impact those around you, in the long run you can impact the world,” Byington said.

She enjoys modern art and illustration, but the art of the Renaissance will always influence her.

“There are a lot of good modern artists, but the Renaissance will always touch me more,” Byington said, “The way they told stories just through the beauty of their paintings, they don’t just impact me, it overall impacted the whole world.”