Whether it be a small picture of a dog in her math notebook, or large photos of detailed drawings, when this freshman grabs a pencil or pen, 14-year-old McKenna Descoteau knows how to make some intriguing art work.

When Descoteau was younger and looked at something truly beautiful, inspiring, or fascinating, she felt the need to draw it. Those things varied from ordinary objects to massive, full, and detailed. It made her want to begin drawing.

“I probably started drawing three years ago when I realized how inspiring some images may be,” Descoteau recalled. “I didn’t actually start getting my sketchbooks and specific tools until I was in 7th grade, because I was doing so well in 6th grade.”

The young freshman grew more passionate for the activity and explored it further since then, and has made it quite far.

In her drawings she generally works on making the things she draws more of a realistic cartoon, where it’s obviously depicted to be a comic looking piece of art, but also looks realistic to a point you can imagine it’s an everyday object.

One thing the bubbly freshman hopes to improve on is the shading aspect of her art work. “There’s a technique called shading, where you would darken the areas on an object in your picture related to the shadows from whatever time of day your drawing is based on,” Descoteau sighed as she continued. “It’s slightly a difficult area for me because I’m more about the overall object instead of the shades.”

Descoteau usually draws when she has nothing to do. Sometimes people request pictures, or she is full of inspiration because of a picture and immediately feels the need to get to work. “I’m usually alone in my bedroom when I get the sudden inspiration,” Descoteau shared.

When she does her own free time drawings, they tend to end up on her wall or stay inside her sketchbook. Requests, however, end differently. Descoteau gives the artwork to the person who asked for it. “For an example, my Uncle Anthony asked me to draw the man on the cover for the band ‘Disturbed’ last year during February. It was so he can use it as a tattoo. I quickly got it done and handed it to him. He got is as a tattoo and gave it back,” said Descoteau.

When asked for what other types of drawing she does, the freshman replied: “I’ve done all digital art before, and the type of art known as pastel painting. It’s where you take pastel utensils and smudge it on the paper you’re using. You use your fingers to rub and spread the colors.”