Doodle 4 Google Contest Winner

Several months ago, I had a post about the contest that Google holds to have school-aged children design a Google Doodle.  The winner not only gets a $15,000 college scholarship, laptop, and digital drawing tablet, but he or she gets the winning design on the Google home page for a day (meaning it will be seen by millions of people).

Today is the day that they are displaying the winning design.  Here it is:

Doodle 4 Google 2011 Winning Design by Matteo Lopez

The winning artist is Matteo Lopez from Monte Verde Elementary School in South San Francisco, CA.  Matteo is only 7 years old--can you believe it?  It's kind of scary that a second grade student can already draw better already that I ever have been able to do.

Matteo is not the only one, though--check out this set of 2011 Regional Finalists, or this other set of 2011 State Finalists.  They are an incredibly talented and creative bunch of artists!

Matteo's entry, entitled Space Life, is his answer to the Google contest prompt of "What I would like to do someday...."  Matteo's response is: "is become an astronaut and explore space life.  I want to wear a space suit, fly in space, walk on the moon, and make friends with aliens in other planets."  That is a beautiful sentiment to go along with a beautiful picture.

There was a middle school student who was one of three National Finalists:  Justas Varpucanskis, a seventh grader from Mokena Junior High School in Mokena, Illinois.  Justas' picture, called The Majestic Sea, is a beautifully painted sea scene.  He writes about his dream that:

"What I'd like to do someday..." is to take part in the conservation of our underwater universe.  There is no doubt the last decades were an environmental catastrophe.  The underwater world is a have for many sea creatures, thus being crucial to our existence.  We need to preserve our underwater ecosystem.

Here is his fabulous piece of art:

2011 Doodle 4 Google Middle School National Finalist, Justin Varpucanskis

Congratulations to Matteo and Justin, the other two National Finalists, and all the other State and Regional winners.   Their artwork and their dreams are both inspiring.