My name is Andrew Alfredo Peña. My first name comes from Andrea, which is what my parents were planning on calling me when they were expecting a girl. Alfredo comes from my father who is also named Alfredo after my grandfather. My mom suggested it should be my middle name after telling my father she didn’t want another Alfredo in the family. I get a lot of different reactions when I tell people my middle name. Most people from around here have only heard the name Alfredo in the pasta section of Kroger. It’s hard for them to grasp the fact that it’s an actual name for someone, especially when they hear my last name, Peña. It gets a lot of attention, which is why I like to introduce myself as Peña. They try to pronounce it the way I do but fail miserably most of the time. They try to write it but never know the difference between a tilde and an accent mark. To them, they’re both just little lines over a certain letter. I like my name.

            I am from the South Bronx in NY. I was born and raised there along with an older sister. We lived in the same apartment that my mother and her parents lived in before. It is a diverse neighborhood that has seen many changes and people who have come and gone. I feel as if I was influenced by where I grew up one way or another. Although I chose to go to college somewhere else, I still consider the Bronx my home. Even if I move elsewhere after college, I will always say that’s where I’m from.

            I enjoy making comics and graphic illustrations. I like to do preliminary work such as sketches, roughs, and comps, traditionally and my finishing touches digitally. I love using ink and brushes to create vivid line work. I usually scan line drawings into the computer and then add color and changes to them. I guess you can say I put a lot of myself into the work I make by relating it to whatever I may be experiencing at the moment.

            Something great that I have witnessed are my parents staying together for twenty years and my grandparents for fifty years trough thick and thin. It doesn’t give me inspiration to go out and get married, but instead to pursue something that I love without giving up. It tells me that nothing is impossible and gives me hope that I might be able to make a living doing what I love to do.

            I hope to one day be able to look back at my life and think it was all worth it and that I would do it all over again. I hope to be happy doing something I love and maybe sharing my life with someone. I hope to look back and regret nothing, and laugh and remember things both good and bad and be perfectly content with how it all turned out. I hope to be somebody worthwhile.

            My name is Andrew Alfredo Peña. Alfredo and Peña come from my father who is also named Alfredo after my grandfather. I like to introduce myself as Peña to new people because I like its peculiarity. I was born and raised in the South Bronx of NY along with an older sister. I grew up in the same apartment that my mother and her parents lived in before us. I enjoy making comics and graphic illustrations. I hope to look back at my past one day and regret nothing, and laugh and remember things both good and bad and be perfectly content with how it all turned out. I hope to be somebody worthwhile.

            My name is Andrew Peña and I’m from the Bronx, NY. I’m an illustrator who is interested in comics and graphic artwork. I dream of one day being able to look back at my life and regret nothing, and laugh and remember things both good and bad and be perfectly content with how it all turned out. I hope to be somebody worthwhile.

            My name is Andrew Peña and I am somebody worthwhile.