There is a lot of hidden talent at Shadow Ridge High School with amazing students walking the halls every day. Senior Diego Martinez is just one of those people. He’s been drawing since he was young, and the now 18-year-old has a passion for art. He is well known for his art as he can be seen drawing all around Shadow Ridge. In addition to the school and his friends admiring his art, his Instagram account dedicated to his art has 831 followers.
“It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment I decided to start drawing or why I did…but now I kind of draw to express the things I enjoy…whenever I watch a movie or show or play a video game and I like it, it’s my way of showing appreciation of it by drawing something that relates to it,” says Martinez.
He is known for drawing mainly things from anime or comic books, and his love for Dragon Ball Z and Spider-Man had a large influence on his work.
“If I want to be specific I really like drawing Dragon Ball characters, I just love the art style,” Martinez claims.
His friends have known him to love drawing as long as they’ve known him, meeting most of his close friends in middle school, they’ve not only seen his improvement for art grow but also his passion for drawing expand.
I’ve been drawing my whole life, I can’t think of a time I wasn’t interested in drawing
— Diego Martinez
Since his freshman year at Shadow Ridge, Martinez has taken art classes provided at Shadow Ridge which include Painting and AP Drawing, and is currently taking AP 2D Art and Design. He claims that although he already knew how to draw well, the classes he took taught him new techniques that he’d never thought of and how to use different mediums. He is always open to learning more about art in any capacity.
“He’s so talented, I give him ideas of what to draw when his brain is mush,” says senior Allie Bernosky.
Though he has no set plans for what he’s doing after graduating, he says he’s open to anything, as long as it has to do with art.
