My name is Ana Mariela Gutierrez and I am taking the Cartooning Diploma with John Byrne. I was in slight depression after my cat died. She had been with me for 14 years, from the time I came to UK. She was my muse and in my solitude I write poetry to fend off homesickness. At that point, my mind was blank and I needed an outlet. I found London Art College online and decided to enrol. Although it took awhile for me to finish the course due to work commitments, I made time out from work one or two days so I can concentrate on my homework/exercises/assignments. I still use my cat as my muse. That’s why most of my drawings are cat inspired. I drew birds mainly because I see them at the back garden where our neighbour often leave food and water. I see them from my kitchen window… they can be funny creatures.
I could not thank you enough how the course have brought me back to writing again. Tutor John Byrne have pushed me to keep going with his encouragement, guidance and appreciation of my progress. I used to think that I have to draw a perfect image but John said, I don’t need to because my drawings have personality that makes it stand out. From then, I started to enjoy every “drawing time”. Completed my course in February with Merit and up until now I’m still over the moon. But I don’t want to stop, I want to learn more. I am hoping to incorporate my poems with drawings, and London Art College have suggested (attached information when I received my Diploma) for me to do Illustrations. I can’t wait and hopefully it will be soon. One day, I want to fulfil a dream of illustrating my poems and publish a book…maybe a fantasy story of a cat!
Ana Mariela Gutierrez
Cartooning Diploma Student
