Her hand seems to glide over the paper. First it is just lines, and then those lines start to take shape: an eye, a nose and a mouth. After a few more strokes and some shading, you have a person.

Junior environmental humanities major Jenifer Chiodo has just completed another caricature.  “Most people like to work from the outside in, but I like working from the inside out,” she said.

Jen, who said she has always paid attention to people’s features, began drawing when she was a little girl. In high school, she was in the National Art Honor Society and drew caricatures during her homecoming for $5.

Eventually, word of Jen’s business spread, and she soon had jobs at churches and the Meadow Club, a catering hall in Port Jefferson, N.Y.

Once that happened, Jen realized she could market her talent, so she put up flyers and posted on Craigslist. Soon she was getting called to do sweet 16s, engagement parties and birthday parties. She has not done a wedding yet, but that is one thing she hopes to do in the future.

According to Jen, it is easier for her to draw people she does not know rather than people she does know. Her favorite type of person to draw is a teenager; she finds them to be more “relatable.”

Not only is Jen a talented young artist, but she also manages her own business. She charges $75 an hour for her talents, a lower price than other artists in her field would charge. “I try to keep my prices low,” Jen said.

“If you have a skill, don’t limit yourself,” she said.  When asked what advice she would give to students who are trying to start their own business, she said, “There’s always something more you can do.”