Adrianna Elgatian entered the coffee shop with her arms full of drawings, many of which were elegantly sketched figures of nude women.

“I’ve always found women easier to draw for myself,” Elgatian said. “Ever since I was young, I would only draw women, like I never drew men. I tried to venture over there, but it’s not that fun for me.”

As a third-year graphic-design major at the University of Iowa, art and its various disciplines have always been an important part of Elgatian’s life. Inspired by women, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and a tattoo artist that goes by the name of Bailey Illustrations, Elgatian creates her pop-art pieces through computer programs and by her own artistic hand.

“I call myself a pop artist,” she said. “I really love pop art and kind of like, comic-book-style art.”

Pulling out her laptop, Elgatian revealed artwork she did for her cousin’s business, called the Fed Fox. Among her collection of digital art lies a portrait of Danny DeVito, along with other class projects. However, the bulk of the coffee shop table was taken up by her printed design works; one print was eye-catching with its pink and orange coloring and depiction of two women kissing.

“I’m [a] lesbian, so I really love women and I consider myself to be a feminist,” Elgatian said. “So that kind of goes together, like I’m really inspired by women but I also think that women are probably the most beautiful people to have graced the earth. They’re really powerful people and I feel like men get too much credit. So I want to make women more prominent through my art.”

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For Elgatian, the art bug hit in middle school, but after being forced to join choir by her mother, the aspiring artist turned toward the music scene, eventually coming into the UI as a music therapy major.

“I hated music after a couple of months,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is something I love and enjoy but not something I want to be graded on and do for the rest of my life.’ This is more of a leisure for me.”

While living on an Arts Living Learning Community in the dorms, one of Elgatian’s friends insisted she would be great at graphic design. Taking her friend’s advice, Elgatian enrolled in an introductory course for non-majors.

“I was like, ‘This is what I want to do, I want to keep doing this,’ ” Elgatian said. “So after my sophomore year, actually, I decided to switch to graphic design.”

After graduating, Elgatian plans on working for a company, eventually making enough money to start her own T-shirt line. But for now, she continues to express herself and her everyday struggles through drawing and design.

“A lot of my art expresses my frustration with not being accepted by my family,” Elgatian said. “It’s kind of hard for viewers to see to that when I make my own stuff. I wish I could be like this in front of my parents, but I can’t. I think a lot of my stuff is based on me as a person and not really outside. It’s kind of my bubble, like a safe place for me.”