A pencil and paper. This is all that sophomore Kyle Carter needs to occupy himself.

Beginning in elementary school, drawing was simply something to pass the time. However, as Kyle progressed through middle school, his skills flourished and took the shape of a hobby.

“There was a lot more inspiration [when I reached middle school],” Kyle said. “I had a lot more ideas that I could base all my drawings off of because I had been through a lot of different situations, and I had some sort of involvement in other things that could affect [my perspective].”

His inspiration did not present itself without being prompted. Through personal experience, Kyle had suddenly found a muse.

“There was this one summer where I wasn’t doing anything; it was a really down summer for me,” Kyle said. “Everyone was outside doing something really fun and meeting new people, and I didn’t know what to do. I was a really antisocial person and really nervous a lot of the time, so I really didn’t do a whole lot outside of my house. I was bored often and [drawing] was one thing that brought me out of [the boredom].”

Enjoying experimenting with sketching and drawing independently, Kyle looked into high school art classes as the next step in his drawing career. But his ideas were limited in class, for he traveled far beyond the boundaries set on inspiration.

“The teaching method was not something I enjoyed,” Kyle said. “There were too many rules on projects; I wanted to go my own way and break the rules.”

Although art classes were not the perfect fit for Kyle, he continues to draw in his own time. At times, it becomes difficult to find new insights due to the fact that he has already expressed them through an earlier piece. This, though creating a new challenge, does not prevent Kyle from pursuing drawing on his own.

“In previous times, I would do a big drawing about every week,” Kyle said. “As it went on, it started slowing down; I started losing ideas. Now, I just have to find something I can enjoy [and find inspiration in that].”