SCH senior Jayden Sumpter is an explosive football player who also has interests off the field. Jayden draws on a daily basis, not only because he is great at it, but also because it relaxes him. Between football workouts and school assignments, Jayden can sometimes feel overwhelmed, so he uses alone time to do what he loves.
Being the busy person he is, Jayden often needs to make time to cope with his stress. He explained how he deals with stress: “I will draw any chance I get, whether it’s doodling on my computer and then erasing it off or in a notebook, it just always makes me feel better and relaxed.”
Jayden has made art all throughout his high school years. He explained, “I started drawing more in ninth and tenth during art class. I knew that I was actually good at drawing when my teacher hung up in her room an art piece of Naruto that I drew almost to perfection, which was very cool to see every time I walked into class.”
Jayden carries art with him everywhere: he has artistic tattoos that bring him joy. “The Kaws character is something that I draw a lot. Kaws is an I.F., or imaginary friend, and for me makes me feel calm because it is such a soothing character.”
Jayden’s friends notice his love for anime art. Senior Tyler Roberts talked about Jayden’s love for anime: “I see him post anime a lot on his social media and I think he can relate to a great amount of the lessons that anime teaches and this helps him throughout his daily life.”
Jayden doesn’t often show his artwork; however, Tyler said he has seen a few glances of it. “During English class I would glance over at his notebook and see very detailed drawings of anime characters, which was always cool to observe.” Another friend of his, senior Danny Reagan, has noticed Jayden’s love for art and anime. Danny explained, “Tattoos are used to show people’s identities or to show something that they are passionate about. For Jayden to have many anime tattoos shows how passionate he really is about art.”
As Jayden continues to play football at the next level, attending Georgetown University next year, it is easy to say that he will continue to relax and keep calm by drawing these soothing characters and objects that he loves.
