Although she does not primarily identify as an artist, Yeseniya Suptelya, Div. 762, spends most of her time drawing portraits and creating abstract pieces, such as collages. Suptelya’s friends often see her doodling in her notebooks, but her art does not end there. Her art pieces show her own style, through details and color schemes.

“I started drawing, in general, when I was in middle school, maybe 7th grade. But then I started drawing portraits when I got to high school, and decided to explore it,” Suptelya said.

Suptelya often draws what is familiar to her usually her friends, family, and role models. However, these subjects take her the longest to capture in her drawings, compared to her abstract pieces.

“I had to draw a blown-up portrait, and it was humongous, and that was really hard. The details had to be really good and it took me a good month to draw. I chose my grandma to draw, and all her features, like her wrinkles, took a long time.”

Suptelya looks up to portrait artists on the internet. This is how she began drawing portraits and making collages.

“I follow this person on Instagram, and there’s also a portrait artist on Youtube, and their portraits are so pretty and amazing. They inspired me to try and do it myself.”

Suptelya is a self-taught artist, and she is relatively new to this form of artwork. The classes she took in her underclassmen years have been a great help to her growing desire to become a more detailed artist.

As an aspiring artist, Suptelya sticks close to what she knows, and makes sure her artwork reaches those who will be inspired by it. “If you’re passionate about what you can do, go for whatever you possibly can, because it will always be worth your time,” Suptelya said.