The dream version of my future self is someone happy and secure in what they do, someone who doesn't let others' thoughts dictate what they should or should not create, It's my story and I should present it the way I wish.

It started with a memory. You know when you're laying down in bed and you start to remember random things that happened to you. The embarrassing moments come flooding back, you make a sour face, and somehow your brain thinks it's humorous so you continue to dwell on that one memory. Then of course there are the pleasant memories. The ones where you can't help but smile fondly at, the ones that make you wish you could go back. This one happens to be the latter. Every moment I look back at it, I would say there was nothing as perfect as that chunk of time. The world felt right then, with no worries aside from what ice cream flavor I wanted to get. With the feeling of water on my bare feet, I felt truly free, running around, splashing, simply being a carefree six-year-old. Of course I didn’t know I wasn't allowed to use the public fountain as a swimming pool for my enjoyment, in my defense, it was night time and who had the heart to stop a little kid. I remember running around barefoot and scraping my knees, squealing in happiness when my mom conversed (with who I assume is a friend) a few feet away from me. Eventually, we had to leave, and I stepped off the fountain soaking because I splashed around while wearing my full set of clothes. I walked hand in hand with my mom down the streets of Manhattan, stopping abruptly when we took a sharp turn and stepped into a brightly lit store. It reminded me of a hospital, with the bright white lighting making me squint unintentionally. It was eerily quiet when my mom asked the cashier where the t-shirts were. The shirt got shoved in my hand making me stretch my arms out so I could get a proper look at it. The big red heart sticking out like a sign screaming ‘LOOK’, and the letters ‘I’ and ‘NYC’ in big bold black letters. I waddled with an oversized ‘I love NYC’ t-shirt towards the subway station and eagerly looked out the window, knees keeping my body upwards as I stretched my neck upwards to take in the night lights. This is where the idea for my piece started. Nostalgia clouded my vision, and so began the process of what colors I would use to illustrate it best. I was in my color pencil phase, I adore using the medium, the lightness of the pencil and the waxy feel on the tip are perfect for blending. I then chose a toned board. I know that colored pencils, especially lighter colors, jump when placed on a shaded background. I began planning out a scene (like one of my memories) with my style, I knew I wanted to capture the nostalgic feeling as if someone was looking at an event that gives off joy, so I began to plan out my color scheme. I settled for warm tones, intentionally making the last scene fill with yellows and oranges to give off a cozy feeling. I didn’t have a concrete direction when I was coloring it all in, I just went with the flow of it all. When I stepped back and finally finished, I was proud of it. I was able to create a piece that hits close to home for me with my style of drawing. I hope it shows when other people look at my piece, I hope they can see the story and that the colors pop to them like that moment did to me.

My name is Adriana Gonzalez, I'm 17 years old and attend Fiorello H. LaGuardia Highschool of the Arts. I was never in the foster care system, But I am heavily involved in the arts and am pursuing a career in the animation field. For me, Simple parts of someone's day-to-day life, a grandmother serving their niece her favorite soup, siblings listening to music together, or even just stressing about the next math test. These are all experiences that as a teenager matter to me and inspire the artworks I make. Most of the pieces I make are characters doing small tasks, small memories that last with me that make me look back in fondness and little moments that seem minor make me laugh. When I am sitting in the library giggling at a funny book or drawing notes to give to my friends, those small moments inspire me to create the art I make Because it makes me happy, and I wish others would feel that joy through my art as well. What also inspires me to create the artwork I make is my emotions. I often feel that art making is a form of expressing what is hard to express, If I feel a certain way and don’t want to convey it with words, I often turn to create pieces based on how I feel, this in turn inspires me to create concept art for a few stories I wish to tell in the future. As an artist, I would like to accomplish bringing simple moments to life through animation. I never truly knew what I wanted to do, I only knew that it had to be related to art. That's when Freshman year of high school hit. I watched animated movies and became enamored with the thought “hey someone out there made this!”, and it hit me, I too can make my own story come to life for others to see. I want to tell stories of simple everyday occurrences. Action is great and all but what about those moments where you daydream while listening to your favorite playlist, or the moment when you are making the decision to talk to someone ( who knew that this would lead to a new friendship). As a teenager I often see the media portray a glorified version of teenage hood, one of the eventful large moments. Yet I rarely see the little moments of a kid's routine, maybe the studying in pjs while on a family phone call, or helping your sister pick an outfit, these moments are a part of our lives as much as the big moments are as well. When I was younger I didn’t see a lot of shows portraying the struggles a Teenager goes through as well. My goal is also to show stories of internal struggle, For those who feel alone they don’t have to. I believe it’s better to show stories of not only the happy parts but our small pitfalls as well, and how we get up again. It’s these simple yet important moments that I feel are overlooked, and as an artist, I want to bring these moments to life for others to not only enjoy but see themselves in as well.

Simple parts of someone's day to day life, a grandmother serving their niece her favorite soup, siblings listening to music together, or even just stressing about the next math test. These are all experiences that as a teenager matter to me. As an artist I would like to accomplish bringing slice of life moments to life through animation. I never truly knew what I wanted to do; I only knew that it had to be related to art. That's when Freshman year of high school hit. I watched animated movies and became enamored with the thought “hey someone out there made this!”, and it hit me, I too can make my own story come to life for others to see. I want to tell stories of simple everyday occurrences. Action is great and all but what about those moments where you daydream while listening to your favorite playlist, or the moment when you are making the decision to talk to someone (who knew that this would lead to a new friendship). It’s these simple yet important moments that I feel are overlooked, and as an artist I want to bring these moments to life for others to not only enjoy but see themselves in as well.