Annie Schweiger first achieved PDD fame when she won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Duluth Art Institute Member Show. Here, she shows some more of her work and talks about the balance of work projects, personal projects, illustration and design.

A.S.: By day I’m a graphic designer and at night I work on illustrations. I mostly work with graphite and watercolor but I’ve been experimenting with digital illustration on a Wacom tablet in Adobe Photoshop.

A digital portrait of Chance the Rapper

Since I was wee little Asian, I’ve always loved drawing and painting and I knew I wanted to pursue art as a career someday. But it wasn’t until I transferred to UMD and took graphic design courses that I realized I could do that, too. I love being able to combine my studio art with digital design.

Sneak preview of Duluth Coffee Company’s new package design. The illustrations are pictures the owner Eric Faust took. I painted them in coffee and pencil.

When I was in college it was easier to strike a balance between what I had to do and what I loved to do with my artwork. Now that I’m working full time, it’s harder to find the time and motivation to do everything that I want to do. Between commissions, projects at work, and more personal projects where I get to experiment with new art forms, I wish I had more like 100 hours in a day. But the rewards outweigh the challenges. I love the connections you make with people through art and seeing their reactions.

Our office dog Winston sitting beside his portrait “The Winston” that won the People’s choice award at the Membership Exhibit at the DAI.

You can find more of my personal artwork on my Instagram @koreanne.

Thumbnail sketches for a logo design for CarePoint Health Foundation. Photo courtesy of @zharad.arts on Instagram.

Ping pong paddle I painted for a tournament we had at work in honor of Prince.

I’m currently working on a logo and font for Mike Scholtz’s new documentary “Kinderchomper,” which will be playing at the Duluth Art Institute through the end of June as a part of Joe Klander’s illustration-and-diorama exhibition about Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Strongman.” The opening reception is May 13 at 5 p.m. with live wrestling!

Logo design for Mike Scholtz’s new documentary “Kinderchomper”