@bridge_is_tired

The world is not the most peaceful place. Many harmful and horrific things are hushed up by society, causing the people who are getting hurt to live in silence. Though it is difficult to change these problems immediately, bringing them to the surface so that everyone is aware of the issue is an important step to fixing the problems. I want to become an animator shortly. To bring problems to light, the media is the best way to do so. I want to be able to create stories through my art, stories that contain very real and very serious issues in society, so that they can be brought to everyone's attention. I want to be able to pitch story ideas that people will both enjoy and understand the deeper, more serious intent. However, for me to accomplish my dream, I need the funds and resources to do so. I need to be able to finance my education, to have the qualifications to pursue my dream. This scholarship would be a great assist in easing the financial burden that I have on my shoulders.

As a child, I was fascinated by cartoons and comics. The first time I even thought about creating art was when I was reading a Big Nate graphic novel. Big Nate Comics is where it all started. During middle school, those were one of the only books I would read. My English teacher thought that I should be reading books that were "more on my level," but I wanted to read something that would make me happy. I was also a big fan of Marvel and DC, which helped me in creating my comics during middle school. It was a fun little series called, "The Elemental Four!" It was a comic series with my friends and me being superheroes. It was heavily loved by my classmates at the time. When I look back at those old comics, it's very clear that the comedy was greatly inspired by Big Nate. However, during that time, I didn't have a favorite artist, since I would take inspiration from many artists. Even now, I can't necessarily say that I have a favorite. Though now, my artistic goals have changed. Back then, I wanted to be a comic artist, but then I started to create characters of my own. I wanted these characters to express themselves, have emotion, and have character, and the only way I believed that I could accomplish that was through animation. Currently, my goal is to become an animator, I want to hone my skills to make my characters come to life. This new goal path showed me a world of many different artists. Though I still don't have a specific favorite, an artist that I believe is incredible is Yusuke Murata. Due to my new love of animation, I started to watch more animated shows, which include anime. Yusuke Murata is the Japanese manga artist behind the manga "One Punch Man." When I first saw the anime, I wanted to know what the manga style looked like. When manga gets an animated adaptation, sometimes there will be slight changes to the art style to animate it easily. The manga is drawn so beautifully that I don't think anything could compare. Plus the manga is black and white, which means it doesn't even need color to show the insane values. Then I discovered that Murata is not the creator of One Punch Man. The original artist created One Punch Man as a webtoon, and Murata redrew it because he believed that it can be more polished. Despite my thinking, Murata's art is incredible, he thinks he can do better, which has inspired me to do better myself.

When I first started this piece, I initially did it for an art trend I saw on TikTok. But as I began to develop the piece more, it became more personal to me. The piece itself depicts Bridge Rodriguez, which is me, messily applying lipstick. the makeup on my face is meant to be shown as messy and unorganized. To be quite honest, the makeup was the easiest part of the entire illustration. The trend itself is based on a musical called "Ride The Cyclone" by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond. The specific song that the trend is based on is called "Noel's Lament." The trend consists of copying the makeup style that Noel portrays when singing his song. People would either copy the makeup style on themselves while the song plays in the background, or the artist would draw characters with Noel's makeup look. the trend looked entertaining enough for me to attempt it. This also gave me an excuse to make more artwork of myself. During the creation of my piece, I did my best to make it look like myself, as accurately as I could, while also fitting within my art style. I was a bit nervous when making this piece, for multiple reasons. To give context, I am a transgender man. I wanted the piece to look like me, but I was scared I would make myself too feminine. If I made myself look too masculine, then I would feel as though the drawing was an inaccurate depiction of myself. I was even more worried because I would have to draw makeup on my character. If I had made myself too feminine, it would clearly show when the makeup was added. Fortunately, this ended up not being the case when the initial sketch was done. I had the greatest sense of relief when I finished the sketch. I was very proud of myself. I even showed a friend of mine my progress and she was surprised by how much it looked like me. Her words gave me the confidence and motivation to continue and finalize the piece. When I completed the piece, I could not hide my happiness. I felt so much joy seeing how I managed to accurately depict myself with nothing but my own two hands. I was so happy that I had almost forgotten that I had created this piece for an art trend on TikTok. This piece is currently my favorite piece of artwork that I have ever created.

This scholarship would be a game-changer for me. As someone who grew up watching cartoons and reading comics, I can say that I am passionate about art and cannot wait to pursue it as a career. However, I am aware this type of educational field is quite expensive. This is where the scholarship would assist me. To start, this scholarship would give me the financial aid I need to afford university costs. I grew up in the Bronx, and though my family is better off currently, we still don't have enough to afford all of my expenses. The degree that I require for a career in the arts is quite pricy. This scholarship will lift some of the burdens off my parent's shoulders and allow me to continue reaching my educational goals. Secondly, this scholarship will allow me to gain more opportunities, and experience, to show others my artwork. This scholarship, for example, gives me the option to show examples of my work that I am proud of. This will also give me a taste of the competitive art world since I am competing against others for this scholarship. Thirdly, this scholarship would give me the confidence I need to pursue my dreams. Even though I have decided what I wanted to do in life, it is still very intimidating. I want to pursue a career in animation, which is quite a bit of work and it is a very experienced based field. Not only that but just getting the education that is required will be expensive. However, receiving this scholarship would solidify to me that my work, talent, and potential are being recognized, giving me motivation and confidence to continue pursuing this field. having the knowledge that my hard work and dedication to art have paid off is more than a confidence boost. To conclude, this scholarship would be such a great transformative opportunity for me. It will provide me with the financial support I need to take some weight off of my parent's backs, allow me to gain opportunities and experience in the competitive world that is the art field, and provide me the confidence I need to keep focusing on my studies and to stay motivated. With this scholarship, I can calmly focus on my education and continue pursuing my dreams of becoming an animator without having to worry about the financial burden, setting me up for success.