A Little Bit About Myself
Matt Gonya is an artist and illustrator based in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He started his creative career by graduating a local tech school with a degree in graphic design. He later worked at his school's newspaper for two years, before starting his professional career with a local magazine as a graphic designer / layout artist. After 15 years of working at an ultimately unfulfilling job, he took the huge, scary step of quitting his day job and devoting 100% of his time to his dream of becoming a free-lance illustrator. Matt is now helping children's book authors bring their stories to life and he couldn't be happier. He finally gets to make a living with his art and illustration.
The chaotic corner of my office/studio where
I sit on my butt and draw pictures.
My work is mostly digital but I also like to
whip out the watercolors once and awhile.
Out and about, sketching at Fred's Burgers
in Burlington, WI.
I've always considered myself a "creative" and as long as I can remember I've always loved to draw and it was the one thing that I seemed to be good at. As a young child, I remember laying on the floor and just drawing all day. As a school kid, I was the one to go to for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle drawing. Drawing was the one thing that distinguished me from others and made me feel good about myself.
Some of my biggest art influences are: Quintin Blake, Richard Thompson, Richard Scarry, Maurice Sendak, Axel Scheffler, Matt Groening, Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, R. Crumb, Chris Ware, Walt Kelly, Will Henry and Ronald Searl. One of my personal art influences (though he my not want the credit) is my uncle who is an artist and has shown me what true devotion to your art should look like.
As for my personal life, I live happily with my partner and our 2 dogs and 2 cats just a few miles away from Lake Michigan. When I'm not sitting at this desk drawing my brains out, I'm reading, watching movies, watching anime, practicing my japanese (which is awful), walking our dogs, cooking something awful, playing video games, listening to music, wasting time on YouTube, listening to audiobooks, sketching in my sketchbook or trying to meditate. Over the years I've come to realize that trying to live a simple life is probably the healthiest way to live and never take a day for granted.