Artist of the Week: Emily Rocca

Freshman Emily Rocca draws humans, dragons and other mythical creatures on her tablet. When she finishes a drawing, she posts it to her Instagram account used for her art — @jaekelo. On Instagram, Rocca receives feedback and seeks inspiration from other artists’s creations. In the future, she hopes to become a graphic artist and design her creatures into 3D models. 

When did you first become interested in drawing?

“I’ve been drawing since I was three. I used to take my favorite books and rewrite all the words and copy the pictures.”

Can you describe your favorite drawing you’ve done?

“It’s probably this one dragon I drew because it was the first time I ever drew a dragon and I was super proud of myself … I had seen other artists draw dragons. I’ve always loved dragons. So I thought that’d be cool to try it out, but in my own way.”

How has posting your art on Instagram affected how you make it? 

“It boosted my confidence, seeing feedback and I know that like, my art is influential, and it is kinda cool. I try and make my own pieces better with every post, including trying to and beating my last post. It’s very like motivational.”

Looking at your Instagram, it seems like you do trades a lot with other art accounts? Can you describe these to me?

“It’s basically where you and another artist take something that you want them to draw, like of [your] characters, and then at the end of the deal you each have one little drawing and it’s each in your style.”

Let’s say you have an idea in your head. Can you take me through step by step your creative process?

“I usually think of ideas like out of the blue, and I’ll probably start out with a sketch of like just basic anatomy and what I want to add and then start in with the liner and outline all the main parts. And then that’s how like start adding details and then coloring it.”

What makes you want to become a graphic artist?

“I just really want to create actually, like, my dragon and creatures and kind of animate them to come to life I want to design dinosaurs for Jurassic Park or Jurassic World or something, cause it just fascinates me…I think it would be really cool to see my own creations and feel them move. I think it’d be definitely fun to design and I could also improve [from them].