Britney Mendoza-Cruz shares their passion for art

By Jesse Uiterwijk

Staff Writer

Britney Mendoza-Cruz is a sophomore at Summit Prep with a huge passion for

drawing. After sharing their art on Instagram, they were able to turn their craft into a business, by selling drawings to their followers. 

1. How has drawing made an impact on your life?

“I’m the only one in my family that draws, and they always bother me on what I do and stuff like that, but drawing has made it so I could raise money for more art supplies and stuff like that.”

2. So you make money through drawing?

“Yes.”

3. How do you make money?

“I do commissions, which are basically where people pay you to draw something for them, and it depends on what they want. The harder the drawing is, the higher the price of the drawing will be. Usually, I open two commission slots per month and then I give people my prices. A lot of people message me, interested in paying for a commission.”

4. How can we buy your art?

“I have an art account on Instagram. It’s just a small account; I barely have like 300 followers, almost 400. For me, that’s a lot of people. A lot of my followers ask me when I will open up a commission slot or how much my commissions are. It’s kind of stressful but at the same time, I just need the money.”

5. How long have you been drawing for?

“Since fourth grade, which is like seven years.”

6. What’s your favorite style of drawing?

“I like to draw cartoony styles, and sometimes realism, but that is really rare.”

7. What do you like to draw?

“I like to draw animals, mostly dogs.”

8. I know that for many people, art can be therapeutic. Do you feel this way about drawing?

“Yes.”

9. Why?

“Sometimes when I’m stressed out or have a lot of weight on my shoulders, I go in my room and start drawing. I immediately start getting into it and feel better.”

10. Would you consider doing drawing as a potential career option when you are older?

“Yeah.”

11. What would you like to do?

“I’m interested in pursuing an artistic career like an animator or a professional freelance artist, which is similar to what I do right now.”

12. Who or what inspires your drawings?

“Music inspires my drawings and the face structure of the animals in my drawings.”

13. Do you use drawing to better express yourself?

“Most of the time.”

14. How?

“Drawing helps me better express my feelings.”