When freshman Chanel Courtman sits down to draw, whether it’s with a stylus or an oil pastel, she’s ready to put her thoughts onto the page. She’s been drawing since she was little, and taught herself technique from Youtube and repetition. 

She mainly draws digitally, but also likes to go traditional with oil pastels and crayons.

“It’s always fun to work with the basics,” Courtman said.

Courtman gathers inspiration from people she sees around her or online.

“I really like drawing things from other cultures, and especially having a more diverse friend group, I think I’m able to look at that and really have a way to express all of us in my art,” Courtman said.

Before creating a picture, she begins her process with an idea.

“I really think about an idea and make sure that’s what I want to do,” Courtman said. “Because if you’re just doing something because it looks nice, then you’re not going to enjoy drawing it.”

After finishing her pieces, Courtman often posts them on her Instagram page (@chanelumi._).

“Originally, I’m not even gonna lie, I did it for likes,” Courtman said. “But then, when you start to get into the art community on Instagram, Tiktok, these platforms, you start to see how nice it is to be able to speak about your art with other people, and to get other ideas. That motivated me to post on more platforms and get more insight about what people think about my art.”

Freshman Tanya Zhang, a fellow artist and friend of Courtman’s, enjoys seeing her artwork on Instagram.

“I like her general look, it’s really nice, between realism and a cartoonish sort of feel,” Zhang said. 

Freshman Jolin Chen recounts the encouragement given by Courtman to experiment with a different medium.

“Because she mainly uses digital art, and I’m transitioning from traditional art into digital art, she gave me some really good advice,” Chen said.

Courtman shared some advice for beginner artists.

“Just go with the flow,” Courtman said. “It’s a really long process, and it took me a while to get to where I am now. So don’t get discouraged, and keep on practicing.”