Not everyone gets the chance to turn their passion into beautiful, reputable art. Destiny Whitcomb is one of the few. 

Destiny Whitcomb is a practicing artist here in Pullman. She has an extensive resume including painting, sketching, crafting, digital art, photography, fashion design, printmaking, cooking, baking and more. Whitcomb’s span of subjects is broad. Her projects range from fantastical to realistic.

Her work is displayed and available for purchase at Cafe Moro,where she works as a barista, and O-Ramen across the street.

“This right now by far is the most fabulous – to be a barista and get to enjoy coffee in the morning, to see everyone in town. One of the main reasons I love being a barista is because I saw [someone create] latte art and was like, ‘how can I do what you did for me for other people?’” Whitcomb said. 

Besides latte art, she has been experimenting lately with watercolor as well as continuing her past work with acrylic. 

“There are gonna be a bunch of different bookmarks, some landscapes, some ones that are of a few different movies that have been playing over here at O-Ramen,” Whitcomb said of her watercolor pieces. “In my acrylic paintings I’ve been doing a koi series. They [are] a blast.”

Whitcomb received her Bachelor of Arts at WSU several years ago, following the passion for art that she’s held since she was young. She grew up in Issaquah, Washington — where she received numerous accolades for her work — and has been broadening her horizons ever since. Her portfolio of work can hardly be defined as it reaches over a variety of mediums and subjects, though fan art continues to especially spark her interest.

“When I’m looking at [fanart] , it kind of reminds me of certain things that happen in [the fandom]. Sometimes they’re commissions that people have requested from me and so it will kind of take me down a path that I wouldn’t have regularly drawn or worked on myself. If I haven’t seen it and somebody asks me to [make art from it], I’m gonna go watch it. Then I know more of what they want or what I want to see in the art when I’m done. That makes it a little more fun when I can go and do that research and development and it can be [by] going and checking out what somebody else cares about.”

Whitcomb has created a multitude of pieces based on pop culture icons like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons and more. Fantasy stories such as these are some of her most obvious influences when looking at her work.

“Her clouds look like they’re from an old kids movie that has one of those super high fantasy vibes to them,” friend and fellow artist Sydney Pedersen said. “I know that she watches anime, and she’s a big Studio Ghibli fan. I can especially see that inspiration in her work.”

Whitcomb enjoys more traditional art subjects as well, she said, much of which is displayed through her annual involvement with Pullman’s Artfest.

“It’s kind of an event where the local artists or anybody just heads downtown,” she said. “All the businesses downtown typically have different artists set up in locations [where you] can come and meet and see their art; it kind of takes you to see the different businesses around town as well as all the artists. It happens right in the summer after students leave; It’s a lot of fun.”

Her involvement at Artfest as well as the Pullman community as a whole have yielded many opportunities. Whitcomb has been teaching freelance painting classes for some time now, as well as expanding the number of businesses in which her art is sold. Recently, she has been experimenting with digital art in hopes of breaking into the video game design world. 

“I’m hoping to keep expanding while I learn,” she said.

Destiny Whitcomb is open for commissions and plans on opening a Redbubble shop later in the year. She is also available to teach group painting classes, and, of course, make latte art at Cafe Moro. She is available to reach through her website, two Instagram accounts (@shortcake710 and @flaire_company), and by phone (425-213-3248).