Angel Cruz is a self-taught artist with a passion for drawing. She started drawing in 2015 as a release from her feelings and sadness after the death of her mother.

“My main inspiration for my drawings is this animator named Sashley who is known for her YouTube animations,” Cruz said. “I also get inspiration from (my imagination). I sometimes will be laying around and all of a sudden I have a new idea to draw. ”

Her main form of art is drawing and sketching, but she does an animation sketch here and there.

“I prefer sketching more than any other type of art because my sketches always come out better than my other types of art,” Cruz said.

She doesn’t always have a lot of time to draw or sketch something out. Sometimes she works as fast as she can to get the idea on the page, but other times she will come back to her art and add more.

“One thing I regret not drawing when I got the chance would be my mom,” Cruz said. “When I try to draw her now it seems like something is always incorrect.”

Cruz said she is selective on who she shows her artwork to out of fear of hearing their opinions of her work.

“One time my friend asked me if I could draw something on her birthday invites and offered to pay me,” Cruz said. “I declined because I thought my art wasn’t good enough, but I later ended up regretting not taking the opportunity when it was shown to me.” 

Although Cruz admits that her insecurity with her artwork has also kept her from joining art clubs and classes, gaining confidence is something she is working on.

“The people I let see my art are some of my closest friends, I know they will constructively criticize but also tell me when everything is perfect, ” Cruz said. “Animating is my passion. In my future with art I hope to become an animator for cartoons and YouTube.”