Ever since she was in pre school, sophomore Cristina Rodriguez has had a fascination with drawing.

When asked when she got good at drawing, Rodriguez said, “Seventh grade, Christmas when my dad bought me a drawing book, [but] my entire life I’ve wanted to be an artist.”

Now, Rodriguez has a sketchbook full of drawings ranging from rough sketches she does while bored, to much more elaborate ones.

“A really good [drawing] would take me about eight hours,” Rodriguez said.

Some of these really good drawings include her favorite things to draw.

“I really like drawing children because they’re so happy and joyful and animals because the just seem so emotional,” she said.

Rodriguez has started to take drawing classes in high school, but she said before that she just looked at various how-to-do books.

She said she also improves her skills by using new, challenging medium.

Rodriguez said, “I really like charcoal, because I don’t like using dark lines, but charcoal forces me to.”

As of right now, Rodriguez just sees drawing as a hobby, but she said things could change.