Many students own a sketchbook or two filled with doodles or drawings of animals or manga characters, but not freshman Vivian Wang––her sketchbook is full of sketches of still lifes and empty rooms filled with furniture, each drawn with dark and precise strokes of her pencil.

“I got into interior design because I was inspired by the picture ads from the Ikea catalogs that they mail to your home,” said Wang. “I fell in love with the simple yet attractive ways they arrange the furniture, and in a way, it’s just like art.”

Though Wang’s drawings do not depict living creatures, they still express emotions and creativity through how the artist arranges objects around a two-dimensional room.

Wang considers a drawing complete “when the picture finally includes all the basic elements I need, like the basic furniture and lighting.”

“Later on, I add in details, like candles and then work on even finer ones such as the wallpaper design,” said Wang.

With all of the intricate details in her drawings, Wang finds the nearly inevitable smudging that often occurs in pencil sketches quite destructive and irksome.

“When you start drawing, your hand starts sweating because your hand is moving, and you’re so focused that you don’t even notice graphite smudges until it’s too late,” said Wang.

Wang draws whenever she has the time, usually while sitting on her bed and listening to Nora Jones.

“I love drawing interior design simply because it makes me relax and forget about my worries, and simple sketching is what I’m naturally good at,” said Wang.