A detailed drawing of Darth Vader made and appearance at Tahoma Junior High school a few years ago, telling students to recycle.

It started off as a joke between janitor Mark Sutton and another staff member, when the staff member told Sutton that students weren’t recycling during lunch. Sutton knew the staff member was a big fan of Star Wars, so he decided to draw a picture on the cafeteria’s white board one night when he was working. The picture was of Darth Vader with the message, “I find your lack of recycling disturbing.”

The next day, the students and staff members were intrigued by the drawing, since it just appeared. They had no idea who had drawn such a detailed picture, the artist was a mystery to everyone. Eventually, staff members narrowed it down to Sutton because he works after everyone is gone and he has an art background.

Sutton went to The Art Institute of Seattle from 1995-1998, where he learned to draw. He got into commercial art after that and didn’t enjoy it as much as he thought he would, he said. He is now in his 17th year with the Tahoma School District. He started off as a janitor and is now part of the district wide maintenance team.

After students and staff members found out who drew Darth Vader, he started getting requests from them for drawings they wanted to see. When a Legend of Zelda game came out, he drew a large picture of Link, it was one if his favorite pictures to draw, he said. The students started calling him, the whiteboard janitor.

Sutton wanted to remain anonymous but he ended being anything but anonymous. Students made him aware that he was becoming Internet famous; students had been sharing his drawings all over the Internet. Searching for “whiteboard janitor” on any search website will bring up the drawings he has done in the past.

“It as kind of a shock to find out I was Internet famous,” Sutton said. “It was a lot of fun though.”

The best part about doing the drawings for Sutton was getting in touch with the kids, he said. It was fun getting their input and interacting with them.

While Sutton may not roam the halls of the junior high school anymore, nobody will forget the whiteboard janitor any time soon. Right before he left to be part of the maintenance team, he drew a large picture of Harry Potter on the whiteboard in the library. Fast forward two years to now, Harry Potter is still on the whiteboard. Besides some minor scuffs, Harry Potter has remained untouched for two years.