Tahoma Junior High<\/a> student Tyler Friesen <\/a>has figured out at 14 what a lot of us don\u2019t figure out until we\u2019re in our 20s.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Actually, he\u2019s figured out two things: what he loves to do and what he\u2019s good at.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n And it happens to be the same thing \u2014 drawing comics.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n There are a lot of things in life we were forced to do as children, like play a musical instrument, sing in music class or draw stick figures which our parents always treated like they were little Sistine Chapels, which we bought hook, sinker and lure.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I drew perfectly, like any five year old kid does,\u201d Friesen said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Friesen had been drawing, however, well before he ever attended preschool. In fact, he doesn\u2019t remember at what point he didn\u2019t enjoy drawing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The real desire to draw first came from a book series called Captain Underpants, which concerns two fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, who create their superhero after accidentally hypnotizing their principal Mr. Krupp. They also draw comics detailing the adventures.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds really stupid,\u201d Friesen recalled. \u201cBut it was funny. I remember thinking, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s cool. I want to do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Like all artists, Friesen started out learning the basics. A life-long comic book fan, he created little makeshift comic books featuring his own superheroes. Sticking with a traditional form, all of his comics are drawn by hand. Even now he only uses computer software to crop the electronic files when uploading them online. Working on those comic books also allowed Friesen to develop his skills.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt kind of came naturally,\u201d he said. \u201cIt ranges from what I kind of want at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Like any self-respecting comic book fan, he also has his favorite superhero, Spiderman.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s different from all of the rest,\u201d Friesen said. \u201cHis personal life affects him when he puts on the mask. Now, everyone has it, but I thought it was special at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The transition into comic strips came when he was a sixth grader in Ohio. Friesen admitted his style is very similar to Calvin and Hobbes, whose creator, Bill Watterson, is also a personal inspiration.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the man,\u201d Friesen said. \u201cHe was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n When it comes to the characters in his comics, however, he took a cue from Peanuts creator Charles Schultz.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI was reading some story of Charles Schultz that said he based a lot of his cartoons off of real people,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I thought if it worked for him, it can work for me. It depends on what life gives you for material.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Friesen\u2019s comics very much reflect the world of a 14-year-old. In them, issues such as the irrationality of puppy love, the dislike of homework \u2014 except if the homework involves drawing \u2014 and subtle observances of people\u2019s idiosyncrasies are presented in a lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek manner.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cThat is a major element of the strip,\u201d Friesen said. \u201cIt makes everything a little more relatable, for me and the audience. It\u2019s kind of got a vibe that says \u2018This is what life is like.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n At the same time, basing it off friends has placed limitations on Friesen, as he has trouble portraying any of them in a particularly poor light.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI need to come up with a completely imaginary character so he can do all the bad things,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n After he moved from Ohio to Ravensdale he continued creating more comics strips. They were merely a personal passion for him until a friend recommended that he post some of them on Facebook. Taking five strips from his sketchbook, he uploaded them onto the social networking site, where they were well-received by his friends and family.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone loved them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Friesen plans to eventually make a comic book, but time constraints necessitate that he stick to the comic strip for the moment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI just can\u2019t stay into it long enough,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would take an entire day to come up with more pages. It takes more work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Meanwhile, he\u2019s working on creating a more defined world for his comic strips, including character names and plots.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cI should work on making a point,\u201d he said. \u201cI keep meaning to mention their names more often.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n While Friesen hasn\u2019t decided what he wants to do for a career, he has plenty of time on his side.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Meanwhile, he gets a small chance to play the hero when he\u2019s in art class.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s ever an assignment when you have to draw a picture, people generally come up to me and say, \u2018Tyler, can you help us out?\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tahoma Junior High student Tyler Friesen has figured out at 14 what a lot of us don\u2019t figure out until we\u2019re in our 20s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":242,"featured_media":8873,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-8872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8872"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/242"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8872"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}