Yanni, a 33-year-old professional artist living in Sacramento, California with his girlfriend Niki and his dog Sai, is super into gardening, vinyl record collecting, cycling, snowboarding, and, of course, art. He got into drawing when he was around 3 years old and naturally gravitated to the pencil and basically never put it down as he got older. “I started by drawing airplanes and then got interested in painting and comics as a teenager. I was lucky enough to have supportive parents and I went to art school at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where I learned about art history and majored in sequential art.” And now, he makes his living doing art for tech corporations and advertising agencies.

The artist gets the inspiration for his comics from real life, people, and situations that he observes in the world and in his social circle. “My social circles are best because they are unique to my own experiences and give my work a genuine voice. I’m also pretty influenced by some of the absurdist comedy that was pretty popular in film and television in the '80s and '90s when I was growing up. It seems like more realistic, relatable comedy has grown in popularity since, so I try and pepper in a little of that too, but I would say my core comedy style is absurd and goofy. My art style, on the other hand, is influenced by newspaper comic strips like Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbes.” He also loves kawaii art from Japan, like the Sanrio characters or Tokidoki characters, so there’s a little of that in his work as well.

There are four main characters in his comics: Olive, Teal, Fuchsia, and Violet, as he names all his characters after colors. “They are millennials with very different personalities and all trying to stumble their way through life. I also have a growing cast of supporting characters from various other age groups like kids, seniors, and parents, so I can lampoon a wider array of people and generations. I also love animal characters, especially bugs. My favorite is Rolly Polly, a socially shy pill-bug, which was also a fan favorite. He got popular enough for me to spin off into a side comic called 'Under a Rock' last year. I had to take a break from writing that one but I hope to return to it someday.”

“I am trying to reach anyone who wants a laugh or to think about the world around them differently. I think comics are the superior storytelling medium. In a way, they are the simplest, most abstract way to combine words and pictures to evoke an emotion. I want to eventually publish books,” shared Yanni.