Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Sonia Muriu moved to Atlanta in 2019 to pursue her BFA in Illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Muriu enjoys classical art and the delicate quality of works originating from the Renaissance period. That influence, however, does not necessarily reflect in her current work.
Muriu works in a combination of digital and traditional media. More often than not, she creates watercolor paintings or graphite drawings that she then scans to color it digitally using the Procreate app on the iPad. Muriu finds joy in curating unique color palettes for her work, usually leaning more towards complementary and analogous color palettes with strong saturation. She also tries to include decorative or patterned elements in her work, making pieces that are stunning with complex detail.
One half of a duo piece, created with the intention of “beer can design,” Muriu illustrated a pig covered in tattoos and piercings. The background was completed using watercolor paint, which lends to its naturally-occurring textures that are not easily done using digital mediums. After scanning in the background, Muriu then drew the pig digitally using Procreate.
As the other half of the duo, the same technique was applied to illustrate a tattooed blackbird, this time using a blue color palette with gold accents as compared to the pinks used in “Miss Piggy.” The framing elements lends to aesthetics similar to that of porcelain plates and picnic blankets. Muriu in addition added outlines to the background to create implications of branches.
Using a complementary color palette of oranges and blues, Muriu created this piece to represent the beauty and versatility of textured hair. To further deepen the textures in this piece, Muriu used a combination of digital media and graphite, allowing for “Textured Hair” to have a myriad of different areas of visual interest to the viewer.
A completely traditional piece, Muriu uses oil paints on a wood panel to create this illustration, which is meant to be reminiscent of the history of Kenyan coffee, where Muriu originated from. While it is an earlier piece of Muriu’s, a clear interest in different textures can already be seen, using the thick nature of oil paints to create grooves in the piece that can be seen even on two-dimensional textures.
To check out more of Muriu’s stunningly unique work, you can find her Instagram @snm.png.
