Music playing in her room as the needle moves across fake skin, with 11 tattoos and a desk full of sketches Qiannah Benitez is immersed in the world of tattoos . Qiannah Benitez , a senior in West leyden High School discovered tattoo as a new way to express her art and faith, Benitez spends hours practicing on fake skin, this passion didn’t start out of nowhere Qiannah says. “I’ve always been drawing since I was little, and it’s always been  a big thing that I would do. I draw religiously.” Drawing wasn’t just Qiannah’s idea she tells how her father has always encouraged her to draw and explore that creative side of her “My parents used to put me into drawing competitions but the one who brought me towards it was mostly my dad because he supported me a lot, he’s my biggest influence and has always been by my side throughout the whole process, he believed in me the most since I was little at five or six years old, he always wanted me to draw whenever I had the chance and he would always ask me if I drew today.” another big influence and supporter that Qiannah has is her uncle, as she estates “Someone that inspired me too was my great uncle on my dad’s side, he’s a professional tattoo artist himself, and he has his own shop, he doesn’t live here, but he’s very successful and makes a good amount of money. I talk to him when he’s not busy and he gives me tips, but both of them have definitely helped me a lot and have definitely been a big help throughout this whole thing.” This year she embarked on a learning journey in the tattooing world , she learn techniques, styles and designs and she tells her favorite ones “Some designs and styles or  things I tend to do a lot would be a bunch of Scripture, fine line , bold work but when it comes to bigger pieces I do a lot of religious tattoos, whether that’s angels or Virgin Mary’s, because a lot of people seem to get them a lot. I also love drawing or tattooing flowers, or even just  little random things, but I definitely want to improve in those things before I continue to go to a different style” For now Qiannah practices in fake skin that way she can improve every day. “Practicing on fake skin helps me improve every day, especially with the time I put into it, because tattooing takes a lot of different testing, different equipment and techniques. And with all this time and effort and practice, I’m able to see what I’m doing wrong in the moment, and improve on it , so I’m not constantly making the same mistake.” Besides learning how to tattoo, Qiannah also has tattoos herself. That have beautiful meanings “I have a total of 11 tattoos. Personally I  feel that all my tattoos are really meaningful to me in some sort of way but I really like either my spine tattoo or  the one I have going down the side of my rib. My spine tattoo came from a Bible verse, but it’s said in a different way, that says “When facing challenges or threats from others one is not afraid because their ultimate reliance is on God’s power” and the one on the side of my rib says ‘divine resilience’ that basically mean being able to overcome your hardest battles through the faith in God , growing  and being able to find peace within yourself and your hardest battles” Qiannah talks about her goal for this year. “My goal that I have myself this year would definitely be to get officially my tattooing license and be able to finally start in actual people and start to get clients and see how far my work can go, beyond just practicing on fake skin and see all the improvement I’ll have eventually as the days go by.” What began as sketches on paper now is a bright future guided by faith and powerful dedication , every line she practices prepares her for what comes next, one design at a time.