As a child, I enjoyed doing many activities, and among those was drawing. I drew a lot because I enjoyed it but as time went by and I began to realize things, I noticed that my older sister was drawing amazing things. My sister was also a child, so it wasn’t perfect, but to my four-year-old self, her drawings of lions and people amazed me. I began to feel more driven to do art because I was developing more of an attraction to it and my sister was inspiring me a lot throughout the way. As I got older, my sister began to teach me what she knew, but as expected, it was difficult to make it look good for my standards. As a five-year-old, I began to experience insecurities about my art because I wanted to draw animals and people as well as my sister and I simply could not. However, when I had those rough patches, my sister would encourage me to continue as she saw that I was dedicated to this I was just learning.   

 

As I got older, I continued drawing and never stopped. I began to make short stories and my odd-looking animals and people started to take form. When I was ten, I discovered anime and got hooked not only because of the shows, but because I though the art was beautiful. I drew anime for most of my early teenage years up until high school where I was brought to the realization that I did not know how to draw anything in a realistic way. That bothered me because at that point, I knew that that was the next step to becoming a better artist. In high school I took some art classes such as introduction to art, advanced art, and AP Studio art. In AP Studio art, I was challenged a lot because I was prompted to draw things that were out of my comfort zone but that was exactly what made me grow as an artist. While in AP Studio art, I entered my art into the school art show where a self-portrait that I had so meticulously drew was awarded best in the show. I was interviewed and the next day I was on the front page of the Manteca Bulletin newspaper. That entire experience shocked me because I never expected my art to get that much recognition as I felt that I was not qualified.

 

Now, I was thankfully accepted to University of the Pacific where I hope to continue my art journey and grow more as an artist. As a Studio Art major, I hope to meet people, try new things, and find out about the many options I have with art.