Noteworthy: A Junior Self-Portrait Illustration by Daniel Petti (2013)

I have combined themes from my personal essay with my musical hobbies in this illustration. When I drew this, I was trying to show the unattainability of perfection. The golden note represents perfection itself, and the guy climbing up the staff is pretty much a literal self-portrait.

I think that as a society, we focus too much on perfection, especially for something so unreachable. I’ve tried to emphasize this aspect of perfection by putting the note just out of the figure’s reach and by showing the staff he is climbing up collapsing around him. And yet, even though he is going to fall, he must only stretch a few inches higher to get what he wants, and that temptation is why he climbs in the first place. This is exactly how tantalizing perfection really is. Personally, I don’t think he will ever reach it, but that won’t stop him from trying.