What is your name?

My full name is Morgan LaRay Trinkle.

Where are you from?

I was born in a small Appalachian town in Virginia, but have lived in Kentucky most of my
life since around age 5. Letcher County from the end of Kindergarten through 8th grade and
Johnson County all through high school and presently. So honestly, the Appalachian
Mountains have always been my home.

How would you describe your artistic style?

I’m a color pencil artist who mostly focuses on a mix of realism and animation, and a bit of
surrealism as shown in my photos. So a bit eclectic to say the least. My artwork is also
always very fun and vibrant in color and composition and can sometimes be easily
recognizable by the colored strip backgrounds I do on a number of my artworks!

How does your submitted work represent you?

My submitted photos represent my eclectic style very well and my personality as an artist,
I’m a very bubbly person and I think that shows through in the vibrancy of my artwork!

What/who are your biggest influences?

I come from a line of artists, my grandfather was an oil painter, and my mother an acrylic
painter. Although I chose a completely different medium from them just growing up and
seeing their artwork really inspired me to be an artist.
A number of different color pencil artists on Instagram inspire me; Morgan Davidson,
Marcello Barenghi, and Adam Bettley, to name a few! As well as artists like Bob Ross, Andy
Warhol, and Vincent Van Gogh.

What is your creative process?

I first search for inspiration. Once I’ve found it, I do an outline in graphite, then choose my
colors from my selection of colored pencils. Then I lighten the graphite outline so no
graphite shows in my drawing. Next, I color the drawing piece by piece, blending and
shading with the colors I have chosen for the drawing until finished. If the drawing needs
any white highlights to pop out, I’ll use a white gel pen to make the highlights really stand
out.

What is one thing that everyone should know about you or your artwork?
Well, aside from a few art classes in middle and high school, I’m entirely self taught! I’ve
struggled a lot especially through high school with having confidence in my artwork. I would
not be where I am today without the support of my friends, family and boyfriend. As well as
the support from the art community and small community I live in! I believe in the three P’s:
Passion, Practice, and Patience! Passion to create art, practice your skill as much as you
can, and the patience to really improve your skill over time! The three P’s are something I
thought of a long time ago and have also been a big part of getting me where I am today
and helping me grow as an artist.

Does Appalachia or Appalachian culture influence your work? If so, how?

No, Appalachian culture doesn’t really influence me with my artwork. Although the
mountains are my home, my artwork isn’t inspired by it’s wonderful culture.

Why were you drawn to this art form/medium?

I was drawn to colored pencils at a young age. As a little girl I would also draw with crayons
or colored pencils. In my high school art classes my art teacher didn’t like working with them
so we never really used them. She instead wanted us to work with graphite, paint, pastels,
and watercolor. All very amazing mediums but I felt like none of them really suited me. The
final project we did in her class my senior year was with color pencils and I had the most fun
doing that project! After I graduated, I started using them again and fell in love with drawing!
I started experimenting with working and blending them and I loved the colors, neatness,
control I have with this medium. All I need is a sketch book and my color pencils and I can
draw anywhere! Since then I’ve learned to also incorporate Copic Markers into some of my
artworks!