Heritage College Dublin student develops daily drawing platform

Medical school schedules are notoriously demanding, so it might be surprising that Nick Shonkwiler spends his breaks between study sessions building software. 

Shonkwiler, a second-year medical student on the Heritage College’s Dublin campus, recently launched iArtsy — a web app that prompts users to complete a quick daily sketch. 

For Shonkwiler, shifting gears toward technical projects is not a distraction from his coursework. Instead, it is a way to stay productive when he needs a break. 

"When you have a bunch of stuff to do, you feel bad about procrastinating," Shonkwiler said. "So rather than true procrastination, you just switch to a new project and grind that one out. Med school has made me very productive in other places other than medicine." 

A daily creative reset 

The idea is simple. Each day, the site issues a single prompt — words like "teacup," "flame" or "fox." 

To view what others have drawn, users must first complete and submit a sketch of their own using the site’s built-in drawing tool. 

Having users draw first keeps people from copying ideas and encourages them to participate instead of just scrolling. Once submitted, users can browse the day's community gallery and upvote sketches they like. 

Keeping the daily prompts simple ensures the site remains accessible to beginners while leaving room for experienced artists. 

"From a person that doesn’t draw's perspective, it’s nice to have one thing very simple ...  where anyone can look at that and go, 'Okay, I get it,'" Shonkwiler said. "People who are really into art can also be like, 'Here’s where I’m taking it.'" 

He envisioned the project as a low-pressure alternative to traditional social feeds — what he describes as a healthier, low-stakes digital community. 

From pharmacology to art 

iArtsy is not Shonkwiler’s first daily project. Last year, inspired by daily puzzle games like Wordle, he built an iOS app called Drug of the Day to help classmates learn pharmacology (it's available on the iOS App Store). 

"I really like The New York Times games, where it’s one new thing per day and you just do it real quick in the morning," Shonkwiler said. "I was like, 'It’d be kind of cool if for pharmacology there was a new drug every day and you kind of learn a new drug.'" 

After finishing the pharmacology app, Shonkwiler looked for another daily concept. The inspiration for iArtsy came from his girlfriend and her family, who are active artists. 

His girlfriend’s mother was taking an art class and was struggling to decide what to draw. Though Shonkwiler admits he cannot draw (though he does draw using iArtsy sometimes), he realized he could solve the creative roadblock. 

"She was like, 'I just have no ideas,'" Shonkwiler said. "And I was like, 'Well, I can't draw, but I can come up with ideas to draw.'"

Building with AI 

Though Shonkwiler has some familiarity with coding, he does not consider himself a software developer. He completed about a year of computer engineering coursework at Wright State University before shifting his focus to medicine. 

"I had a little bit of confidence, and I get how computers work, but I'm not an expert at all," Shonkwiler said. 

To bring iArtsy to life, he turned to generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT to help write the code. The technology allowed him to take the project from an initial concept to a functional website in about three weeks. 

"In terms of having an idea and then being able to visualize it very quickly, that's where it's been amazing for me," Shonkwiler said. "It feels weird to be like, 'Oh yeah, I built this site,' but it's like ChatGPT has built this site and I've really emphasized what it's doing. But a lot of work goes into planning and trying to organize thoughts." 

Campus response and what’s next 

Shonkwiler initially shared the site with his Dublin small-group cohort and campus group chats. So far, about 40 users have signed up to draw. 

Classmates have embraced the platform, and users have even pitched their own prompt ideas through the site's suggestion tool — ranging from Italian food to pumpkins. 

"My small group's really cool. They're all really excited about things," Shonkwiler said. "When I've reminded them about it, they'll throw in a drawing and they get excited about it." 

Looking ahead, Shonkwiler hopes to eventually develop a dedicated mobile app with push notifications and refine the community voting system. 

For now, he plans to cap registration between 200 and 300 users to ensure the site's infrastructure can handle that many people at once without lagging. Shonkwiler currently funds the small monthly server costs out of pocket. 

For Shonkwiler, finding time outside of his medical studies to build new tools remains a rewarding balance. 

"When I'm not studying, I'm working on this," Shonkwiler said. "To me, it's not wasted time. It's feel-good time." 

To submit a sketch or view the daily gallery, visit iartsy.co.