How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

....Create a comic, that's how!

Drawing by my teacher Dan.

So I have some very exciting news to share with you today. Very, very, exciting news. Y'know, wet-yourself-caliber exciting. (Or maybe that's just me).

First off, a little background: From August to December I created an 8-page short comic called "Jam Days." ("Jam Days" doesn't have anything to do with Chapel, but I was so touched by my teacher's Chapel-themed drawing to the right that I had to include it). At the beginning I started off working for two weeks per page: One week, I'd sketch the page, and the next I'd ink it. But then my mom found out about the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, an extremely prestigious competition for teens with various divisions covering all kinds of art and writing, including Comic Art. (You can see where I'm going with this, can't you?) Anyway, at that point it was maybe October, and the bulk of the work on "Jam Days" was yet to be completed. Although when I heard about the competition I wished I could make up a more serious story to draw, there wasn't enough time to plan out an entirely new project before the deadline. So I was going to submit "Jam Days."

I'd planned to work on it at a leisurely pace, unlike my previous project from two years ago which I did all in one go. But I calculated that in order to finish for the mid-December deadline, I would have to work twice as fast -- because I still had to paint every page as well. So for about two and a half months, I would draw and ink a page every week.

For the first part of the week I'd draw and draw furiously until I had the entire page penciled. Then I'd email a scan to my incomparable comics tutor, Dan Archer, who would critique it and send it back to me. After a month of that, I had all the pages finalized and inked. But I was far from done - I still had to paint them.

Painting the comic was very precise and time-consuming, and there were about two weeks when I would get home from school at 4 and paint until my bedtime at 9. In the end, I managed to finish everything - all 8 pages, written and drawn and lettered and inked and painted and shaded by hand -  just in time for the deadline.

I also submitted a poetry collection I wrote, consisting of two prose poems. Below is a time-lapse I made of painting the last page of "Jam Days."

The way the Scholastic Art & Writing Competition works is that there are two levels, the Regional and then the National level. First, kids submit work to their Regional affiliate. At the Regional level, prizes awarded are Gold Keys, Silver Keys, and Merit Awards. Those who are awarded Gold Keys then get forwarded to Nationals, where their work is judged by professionals in the industry. There, the highest honors in the country, Gold and Silver Medals, along with other honors, are awarded.

Mid-February, a couple days before my 14th birthday, I found out that - YES! - I won two Regional awards in the California state.

First, for my poetry collection, a Merit Award! And...

...A GOLD KEY FOR "JAM DAYS!" That's right -- I got the highest prize at the Regional level! Because I won a Gold Key, a week from today - on the 19th - I get to attend the Regional celebration in San Jose, where I'll be awarded my real Gold Key pin and certificate, along with a pin for Dan, my teacher.

Also because I won a Gold Key, "Jam Days" was forwarded for judging at US Nationals, the highest level of competition. A long month of waiting had begun...a month filled with both my mom and me obsessively checking the website, re-reading the interview with the Comic Art judge, looking through last year's winners, knocking on wood, praying (that was just my mom), having nightmares (that was just me), and secretly hoping.

Our stress/worry level increased with each day leading up to when the winners would be announced...

...which was yesterday, March 11th.

And...



I...



WON! 

YES, I WON THE GOLD MEDAL FOR 8TH GRADE IN COMIC ART! And only one other middle schooler in the US won this award for their comics!

Because I won, I get to attend the medal-winning ceremony at Carnegie Hall on May 31st! I'll be staying in a schwanky hotel chock-full with other winners, and there'll also be an exhibition of winning artwork! I can't wait to meet all the other winners.

Really, I still can't quite believe I won, but I guess my months of hard work paid off. I have never been more proud of myself in my life, and I am so incredibly happy and honored to have won this award. And I couldn't have done it without Dan's guidance, so please go check out his comics.

I'll post an account of my trips to San Jose and Carnegie Hall after they happen, so please check back.