Isaac Passwater takes his future into his hands, sketching it out with pencil and pen.

On the surface, Passwater may be quite unassuming, but inside his mind bubbles a world of both stark and expressive comic-book characters.

Nary a class worksheet margin is left free of the imaginings of the Bigfork High School senior.

“I’ll forget my name and my teachers will write it in because they’ll see the drawings all over,” Passwater said.

His dedication to comic art is evident by his senior project, a comic book called “The Woods” with a main character only known as “the poet.” “The Woods” is based on a short story Passwater has worked on since sophomore year.

While “The Woods” is an afterlife story, Passwater’s comics usually play in the genres of psychological thrillers, crime and some horror.

The 18-year-old is known as the artist of Bigfork High School’s Class of 2015, but he received this label at an early age — first grade, as the story goes. Passwater said his parents always tell him the story when his first-grade teacher showed them a family portrait he had drawn during an open house.

“Most of the kids had stick figure portraits,” he said, noting that his were more realistic and proportional.

He draws inspiration from comic book author and illustrator Mike Mignola of “Hellboy” fame, comic artist James Harren and surrealist artist Salvador Dali.

He has come a long way from his childhood days reading “Sonic the Hedgehog” and “Superman.” Passwater explained that one day he was in a bookstore and gravitated to a comic book by Mignola. Passwater has since amassed about 40 comic books by Mignola.

“He has a really unique style compared to many mainstream comic book artists, very distinctive. I read comics when I was little and they all, most of them, looked the same art-wise, but when I saw his — it was really unique,” Passwater said.

From concept to final character, Passwater’s process is simple. He starts with a pencil sketch that he inks over with pen, scans it into the computer and colors it using Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator.

In the fall, Passwater will attend Minneapolis College of Art and Design on a $52,000 scholarship. He will study illustration and photography.

“They have a major in comic art,” Passwater said. “They also offer internships your junior year where they have you work with actual companies.”

When he graduates from college, he hopes to write or illustrate comic books or draw story boards for movies.

Bigfork High School art teacher Sarah Taylor described Passwater as an artist with a simple, direct style. With each art assignment, Passwater has been able to filter it through his own lens.

“Isaac will somehow modify every project we have to get to his particular viewpoint and his style,” Taylor said.

With college coming and new techniques and skills to learn, Passwater is open to improving his style.

“I don’t want to lock down a style,” Passwater said. “I want to keep improving.”

To gain more experience in publications in high school, he was on the editorial staff of the award-winning student literary magazine “Hatch,” serving as the art and layout design editor. The magazine was part of a class project.

“The first semester was creative writing and the second semester was working on the literary magazine, Passwater said. “The teacher, Mr. Jessop, had done a literary magazine at his old school and he wanted me to be in his literary magazine class.”

Passwater also was on the yearbook staff for two years and designed the cover for three years.

In addition to art, Passwater competes on the soccer team and enjoys running. In the summer, Passwater will travel to Scotland where he plans to hike around the Isle of Skye and groove to Modest Mouse at the T in the Park music festival.

His ultimate aspiration is to be a known artist.

“I want to be at a place where people look at my stuff and without even knowing the name, know that it’s me,” Passwater said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.