As the bell rings for class change, he hurries to pack up his binders and papers in his bag along with a black book that he has spent the last class period working in. Within this book are his sketches and drawings of images he has been working on for about a month. It is already overflowing with drawings of anything that comes into Shane Clarke’s head.

For Clarke, drawing began with formless scribbles as a child and grew into a daily habit beginning his eighth grade year.

“Other people liked it,” he stated when asked why he began to draw.

His art began as something he did after watching others like Jhonen Vasquez and the art featured on Egoraptor.net.

After years of tinkering and fine tuning, Shane’s art evolved into something that is genuinely his own.  His art is usually pen and ink with an element of the grotesque. He specializes in characters rather than cartoons but is not set on one category.

“Everything.” Clarke states when asked what he draws.

Although many of his ideas come from the internet, Clarke adds his own twist to the sketches, making them his own.  He says he draws anything he finds funny which usually involves animated people with different qualities.

Clarke says one reason that he draws is because he likes seeing the expressions on people’s faces after seeing his drawings. His friends say that when many people look at his drawings they are surprised, often displaying an expression of shock.

While he enjoys the praise and the surprise he get from others, ultimately Clarke does art for himself.

He does not submit his pieces anywhere and does not take any art classes. Clarke feels that a structured art class might “stifle the creative mind.”

Clark plans to take drawing beyond a simple pastime by continuing his passion by drawing comic books later in life.