Google Doodle 2019 winner: Arantza Peña Popo pays touching tribute to her mum

All you need to know about Google for Doodle competition winner Arantza Peña Popo
Google
Tom Herbert13 August 2019

If you've been on Google today, you may have noticed it has one of its famous Doodles splashed across the homepage.

And you could be forgiven for thinking the Doodle is just like any other as it celebrates an anniversary or the life of someone famous.

However, today's Doodle is anything but ordinary as it honours a US teenager who won a national drawing competition with a touching image of familial love and gratitude.

Georgia-based Arantza Peña Popo was announced as the winner of the 2019 Doodle for Google on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last night, with an illustration called 'Once you get it, give it back'.

(Google )
Google

Usually, Google designs the famous Googles itself to commemorate historical events, anniversaries or cultural breakthroughs with help from experts in all sorts of fields.

Tuesday's illustration, though, was designed by high school senior Arantza after she won the annual Google competition in which young people create a doodle design to feature on the homepage.

This year's Google4Doodle theme was "When I grow up, I hope" and touchingly Arantza decided not to honour any specific type of event, but instead chose to celebrate her mum.

“When I grow up, I hope to care for my mom as much as she cared for me my entire life,” Arantza wrote in a statement submitted with her artwork.

She said she wanted to make the drawing about her mum to honour the many sacrifices she has made for her, adding that she hopes that in the future, she can care for her mother in the same way she was cared for as a baby.

The illustration shows a framed picture of Arantza's mum carrying her as a baby, similar to a real picture that hangs in their house. Below the hanging picture Arantza can be seen caring for her mother years later.

Fallon helped to judge the award, which saw around 200,000 entries.

Arantza, who started drawing when she was three-years-old, said she wants to publish alternative graphic novels and comics in the future. In the autumn she will be heading off to the University of Southern California, but in the meantime is learning how to skateboard.

Described by her mother as someone who “lights up any room she is in,” Arantza hopes that one day the pair of them will travel the world.

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