He glides the charcoal across the textured page, intention behind every motion, outlining his subject’s features. Kaleb Watts, a senior at Lakota East, has a passion for art. His love for art motivates him to work hard to reach his goals. Paul Watts, Kaleb’s dad, describes Kaleb as a laid back, easygoing, and friendly guy.

“He’s just a very generous person, very kind, [and] considerate,” Paul told Spark.

Sydney Hall, one of Kaleb’s friends, says that he is a calm presence in the lives of everyone who knows him. “[Kaleb is] compassionate, creative, [and] intelligent,” Hall told Spark.

While Kaleb works and enjoys playing video games with his friends in his free time, he spends most of his time doing art. He has had an interest in it ever since he was little, and his family recognized his gift for art when he was very young.

“I’ve got a picture right here hanging on my wall [that Kaleb] drew me when he was, I think, four or five years old, and I knew right away that he had some very artistic ability,” said Paul.

While Kaleb has been doing art for a long time, he says that he did not start taking it seriously until seventh grade, and it was then that he started working on improving his skills.

Hall has known Kaleb since ninth grade, and she learned about his talent for art after he drew a portrait of someone she knew.

“I didn’t realize he was so talented at such a young age. Since then, I’ve watched the progression of his art through his Instagram and the art wing at school, and it’s amazing to see how far he’s come,” said Hall.

Even though Kaleb has done several different types of art, his preferred artistic medium is charcoal portraits. He typically draws portraits of faces, but sometimes he will draw full body portraits. Recently, Kaleb has begun exploring using colored pencils, but he feels most confident using charcoal in his drawings.

Both Kaleb’s grandfather and uncle are artistically inclined and inspired him to start drawing when he was young.

“[Kaleb] really got into [his grandfather and uncle’s] artwork and grabbed a pencil and just started going,” said Paul.

During school, Kaleb gets to explore his passion in his AP drawing class at East. The course requires students to do a sustained investigation in which they choose a theme and create 15 drawings throughout the year that relate to their theme. Kaleb is very passionate about music, so he has chosen to make his sustained investigation about music and how it affects him.

“My favorite thing about Kaleb is not just the passion he shows for his work but also a variety of other mixed [media]. He truly appreciates art in all forms, especially music,” said Hall.

Kaleb loves listening to music and, recently, Spanish music has become his favorite, but he’s loved rap music for a long time. One of his favorite drawings that he has done is a portrait of the rapper Juice WRLD.

In his art, Kaleb likes to recreate images as realistically as he can while adding his personal touch. He aims to be a

ble to draw photorealistic images eventually.

“[Kaleb] spends so much time building one picture, but the detail is just amazing,” said Paul.

Kaleb said that the challenging part of creating art is sticking with it and being patient because it takes lots of time. Lately, Kaleb has been spending more time on each of his drawings and seeing improvement in their realism. Even though drawing is time- consuming and requires patience, Kaleb knows the results are worth it.

“I like the process of seeing improvement, and that helps me feel better in the moment,” said Kaleb.

Kaleb’s family has been supportive of him and his art throughout his whole life. His parents make sure he has the materials he needs and they always encourage him to continue with art. Kaleb plans to pursue art as a future career and has applied to a few colleges for digital animation.

“I think it’s just great that [Kaleb] wants to follow [his] dream and find a career in [art],” said Paul. “He’s taking it seriously, and we’re going to encourage him the entire way and support him along the entire journey, so we’re excited to see what he does.”

This story was originally published on Spark on November 25, 2024.