Some little kids want to become superheroes or astronauts. Others dream of becoming a princess or maybe the president. From a young age, junior Anna Marobella knew she had a future in art. Drawing is her passion.

“I’ve been drawing ever since I can remember,” Marobella said. “In elementary school, I remember thinking, ‘Wow, drawing is a thing I can do.’”

Marobella loves art because it provides a medium to release energy and express herself.

“My first response is that it’s relaxing, but then I remember and think back to times when it was work,” Marobella said. “Art is really frustrating, but it’s a creative outlet, man. It helps me unwind, and it helps me get ideas out of my head and onto the screen or paper. I’m just inclined towards it. It comes naturally.”

Right now, Marobella does mostly fan art and cartooning. She draws for herself and for friends on Tumblr and the Internet.

“I draw things for myself when I want to try new techniques,” Marobella said. “I’ve been trying to branch out from traditional work, but it’s hard because I don’t have a lot of time. It’s all over the place.”

For her go-to technique, Marobella uses a tablet she connects to her computer. She uses a program called Paint Tool SAI to add dark red linework, the first outlines of shapes, before adding other colors.

“Linework is really dark red instead of black because it gives a sense of warmth,” Marobella said. “I’m in that palette a lot when I’m doing small things.”

Marobella discovered her digital art technique much on her own. For non-digital work, she is currently taking Art 3 at WHS. She is also looking for other art classes outside of school. Currently, Marobella tries to enjoy all the quirky and fun learning opportunities that art offers.

“I just started playing a game called ‘Undertail’ by Toby Fox, which is really good,” Marobella said. “It’s for 10 dollars. You can buy it on [the digital game store] Steam, and I’m doing some fan art for that right now. I’m learning to draw skeletons because there are skeleton characters in that. It’s coming along right now. It’s ‘cood.’ That’s cool and good.”

Marobella says she could never choose a favorite piece among all of her drawings; she has a wide range of subjects, and she takes inspiration from many sources.

“There are so many people online whose art I really love,” Marobella said. “I also like some of Monet’s work. That aesthetic really pleases me, the ones with the swampy kind of deal. I like anything that draws my eye.”

In the future, she hopes to catch other people’s eyes by contributing to an animated show through character design, storyboarding or animation.

“I just want to be part of something that reaches a lot of people in a positive way like that,” Marobella said.

However, not everyone has been supportive of her potential career choice.

“Everyone says, ‘Get a plan B. Art can’t be your main thing,’ but I don’t have a plan B yet,” Marobella said. “I know college is supposed to be where you find out who you are and what you want to do, but it’s kind of scary. I don’t know if I want to go to a straight up art school because I’m nervous about spending an entire tuition on just art, but who knows, maybe I will. It’s making me nervous because I’m a junior.”

In the meantime, Marobella pushes aside her doubts and continues doing what she loves. She encourages others who love art to also stick with it.

“It’s frustrating, and it can be scary sometimes, but don’t give up on this,” Marobella said. “If anyone is reading this for inspiration, or if you’re struggling with art right now, don’t give up.”

Marobella thinks many people give up on art because they think they aren’t doing it the right way, which she claims is ridiculous.

“It’s almost entirely up to interpretation, and if you want to do your own thing, do your own thing. If you want to imitate people, then it’s totally okay to learn from other people’s examples and use references a lot,” Marobella said.

Marobella knows that she herself will never give up on art.

“It’s my passion. It’s also a way to pass the time in class when I’m really bored, but don’t tell anybody,” Marobella said.”It’s kind of given me a drive to set goals for myself, and it helps me unwind and relax. It brings a lot of happiness to my life, knowing I have something to work on and work towards and do. I’m going to go draw.”