I'm Ankeen, an Iraqi/Armenian girl born in August 2000. My art journey had started ever since I can remember. My drawings started off as scribbles, slowly tuning to lines, shapes, figures, sketches and finally to what they are this day. I had moved to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) at a really young age, and that is where I grew up. We did have art classes for the first few years of school, however it wasn't anything serious. After changing schools in tenth grade, I had a better chance of doing art in school as there was an art room with all the supplies, but again I couldn't do much because our school system was demanding and I barely had any spare time. My only way to draw was to ask permission for spending my break (lunch) time in the art room, which I did get but not always. Art didn't only bring me happiness and peace of mind, it made my parents proud, and impressed others. People around me loved what I did! This influenced me to draw more and more.

​

At first, I just drew what appealed to me, starting from simple objects, to celebrities, to landscapes. I explored many styles trying to find my own. Ranging from realistic drawings, to cartoons and anime. I used paints (oil, acrylic and watercolors), pencils, markers, and even digital drawing. Eventually, I started designing my own characters. Every animated movie I watched got me wondering how they came up with more and more characters every time, this inspired me to try and make new ones, my own. It might be odd that I wasn't inspired by any of the top artists, or most famous ones, however those who inspired me were artists who are youtubers (such as Mark Crilley, or Jazza) who I learned a lot from. Their advice made what seemed like an impossible goal more attainable and real for me. Until this present day I'm exploring the world of art, trying to find my theme and style. It took me years, and might take many more but I believe patience and perseverance is the key in this long process. Who knows, maybe my style is a collection of everything I experimented with in this journey.