Kristyn Ardrey awoke in a panic. For the past two weeks, she had operated on just two hours of sleep a day. The rest of her time was spent crafting and perfecting her submission for Doodle 4 Google 2014 Contest.
Every time she looked at the piece, she saw more issues. The shading wasn’t right on that leaf in the corner. The butterflies needed more color. Does that red snake pop enough?
On the night before the deadline to enter, Kristyn again burned her already-burnt candle at both ends — finally succumbing to exhaustion.
When she opened her eyes, the sun was shining. And she realized her piece was gone.
Gone!
Kristyn’s mother, Angela, thought she was doing her daughter a favor. She collected the piece, completed the entry form, packaged everything up and shipped it out. That’s Mother-of-the-Year material right there, she thought.
Even today, Kristyn insists the piece is incomplete. And perhaps it is. But, if so, no one at Google noticed, and neither did a panel of judges that included, among others, author Rick Riordan; Rosanne Somerson, president of the Rhode Island School of Design; astronaut Ron Garan; and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, directors of “The LEGO Movie.”
Last month, Kristyn, 18, was named Google’s winner from Florida (and one of 10 in her age category) and joins 49 other state finalists. The accolade already has earned her a trip to Google’s headquarters, Google Mountain View, in California. Public voting, which begins at noon April 29, and runs through 8 p.m. May 9, will determine the winner of each of the five age categories as National Finalists.
From there, one will be named the National Winner of Doodle 4 Google.
Should Kristyn win the contest completely, she will receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a $50,000 Google for Education grant for Plant City High School and more.
Best of all: Her doodle, titled, “ECO-BOT: Nature’s Caretaker,” will be featured on the U.S. Google homepage on June 9.
Not bad for a home-grown Plant City girl who hasn’t yet been on an airplane.
MASTERPIECE THEATER
Kristyn only pulls out her art supplies after darkness has overcome her country home. She waits for everyone else to fall asleep, for the dog to finally stop yipping. Only then will she pull out her art supplies from under the bed.
Art professors would cringe at Kristyn’s preferred posture when she draws. There’s no easel, no stool, no proper lighting. Sitting on the floor of her bedroom, Kristyn hunches over the masterpiece-in-the-making, her hand clawed unnaturally around her colored pencil or pen to accommodate the unusual perspective.
“I learned on my bedroom floor,” she says. “And I can see more; I can see everything.”
Today, Kristyn is fully stocked with professional-level pencils, pens, markers — anything she needs to create. But, her foray into arts started — quite simply — with crayons and any writing utensil she could find in the junk drawer. Kristyn’s early works included creating her own storybooks — complete with custom illustrations — and calendars.
“I grew up with a big imagination,” she says. “I didn’t watch much TV. I had a bunch of toys, and I built things. … I’m the artist of the family. It’s been a lifelong passion.”
Like many artists, she prefers to keep her work private for as long as she can. She wants to get every line, every hue and every thought just right, before she shares it with her parents or four sisters.
By the end of the two-week marathon she endured to complete her Doodle 4 Google submission, she had covered the floor in eraser dust.
“It’s hard to see, but there are so many layers in this piece,” she says. “It takes so much to make it look like that.”
Today, her portfolio showcases a wide range of styles in pen, marker, colored pencil and acrylics.
“I’ll use anything that make a mark,” she says. “You can even use barbecue sauce.”
Many of her pieces take inspiration from her love of science and mathematics, while others hint at Kristyn’s more whimsical, childlike side. Her piece for the 2014 Florida Strawberry Festival Art Show, titled “Blinded by Science,” features a man lost in thought, with paper airplanes, an astronaut, octopus and train all surrounding him. She once drew a strawberry with a mustache and monocle for her aunt. And, she harbors a fascination of fairies.
But, perhaps her most important piece is a coloring book she created for Dylan Martin Racing. The team uses the book to bring joy to children at Shriners Hospital for Children, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, Sunshine Foundation for Dream Village and Anchor House Ministries. To date, more than 1,000 coloring books have been given to children battling illnesses.
DO THE ROBOT
Kristyn shrugs her shoulders.
“Honestly, I don’t care if I win or not,” she says, sincerely, of the Google contest. “Just getting to go (to San Francisco) — that’s a prize all on its own. Winning would just be beyond my wildest imagination.”
Although blessed with the talent and determination to excel in art school, Kristyn has other plans post-high school. This fall, she’ll be attending Florida Polytechnic University, in Lakeland. Her major? Mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Sounds completely non-creative, right? Not so fast.
“I want to build robots,” she says. “I love anything that takes imagination to create. And math — like colored pencils or pens — is just another tool. Creating a robot and then having it move — that’s just taking it (art) to the next level.”
Kristyn says her favorite website is the homepage for Boston Dynamics, a company that builds robots for DARPA, the U.S. military, Sony and more.
Oddly enough, Kristyn’s favorite artist isn’t some obscure science-fiction illustrator who has brush-stroked his or her way to a career painting galaxies far, far away.
“Norman Rockwell,” she says. “I love him so much. He’s so traditional, and my art is so crazy. But, he’s the best.
“He was so good at what he did,” Kristyn says. “I really appreciate the work that goes into a piece. I can see the talent in the lines.”
Next week, Google will send representatives to Plant City to present Kristyn with a framed copy of her Doodle 4 Google submission. She says she can’t fathom what the next few weeks will bring. She’s still in shock that she’s a finalist at all.
“I was putting my makeup on to go to the movies,” Kristyn says of the day her mother called her with the news. “I flipped out. I think I ran out of the house with only one eye with makeup. My hair wasn’t done. I didn’t want to talk about it at all, because to me, it didn’t even seem real.”
And although her budding engineering career likely will take most of her time in college, Kristyn says she already has plans to start an on-campus art club. Furthermore, she insists her art supplies never will be far from her hand.
“I’ll draw until I’m in the ground,” she says.
Contact Michael Eng at meng@plantcityobserver.com.
VOTE FOR KRISTYN
The U.S. public will vote for the favorite doodle from the 50 State Winners. Online voting will take place from noon April 29, to 8 p.m. May 9. The highest-ranking doodler from each grade group will be named as a National Finalist. The five National Finalists (one per grade group), will be announced at an awards ceremony May 21, at Google Headquarters, in California.
When voting opens, you can vote for Kristyn Ardrey’s artwork online at doodle4google.com.
PARTY TIME
Google will present Kristyn Ardrey an 11-inch-by-17-inch reprint of her 2014 contest submission during a party April 29, at Wishing Well Barn, in Plant City.