Growing up I never really had people that influence my life or my actions. Most of the people I knew were living a life unfulfilled just to survive, going after and doing the stuff that interested you was never an option. The things that inspired and influence me and my art were anime and mangas. I grew up around shows with different art styles that made me want to mimic their work. Seeing people who were actively doing the things that I aspired to do but never really thought I was ever going to have the opportunity made me want to try. I would always try and learn the techniques that some of my favorite artists would use in my work to better myself and my artistic skills. I think with my work now my art style has drastically changed from what I originally aspired it to be. I am more confident in myself and what I want to do with my work because of the things that I learned and took from many different artists. In my work, I am still learning new things and trying to expand what I can do with my art especially since starting college there are a lot of things for me to learn. I am still unsure about my career path for when I graduate because of the many areas that interest me. Though I am still trying to figure out what I will do after graduating I know fully that I want my work to grasp people's attention. I want to show out-of-the-box creativity with my work to people. At the stage that I am right now, I have a long way to go not only in skill but also in talent. There are a lot of people in my field who are just as creative and talented as anybody else which makes it even harder to stand out. What makes my own work different in my opinion is the use of abstract patterns and different techniques. One of the main things that I do is patterns, It comes naturally easy for me to do than to think of a new illustration idea. I love using different techniques and mediums in my art it not only helps me to practice and master using them it also positively influences my art. I think that know that my art is always evolving with the techniques that differentiate my work from others.

Growing up, I never fully knew what I wanted to do with myself in the future. My interests always changed because I could never commit to anything. The one thing I was good at was art but it seemed more of a hobby than anything. Being from an African household anything other than a doctor or lawyer never seemed to be an option. I was constantly told that going into the art field would mean vary to no little income and that I would struggle. With the negative thoughts in my head, carriers that paid more money than carriers that I felt passionate about and love seemed more appropriate. In America, I am an immigrant with a low-income background. It was way better to work for something that can get me by but that didn't mean I stopped working on my art. I never once thought I had any genuine talent, so I just kept it as a little hobby for myself but my art teachers thought differently. While in high school my art teacher thought I had what it took to go into the art honors class and AP art class. I didn't think I would stand a chance because my art wasn't professional but composed of things I enjoyed doing whether it turned out bad or good. My art teacher ended up compiling all my work from class and turned it in for review on my behalf. Being accepted I couldn’t believe it and had many doubts. I thought the best I could do was just to try my best even if I flailed. What I had not expected was for my entire perspective to be blown wide from my honors art teacher and future AP teacher. My teacher Mrs. Oliver, who was very hard to please, loved my work but was saddened by my lack of interest in pursuing it in the future. When she learned what I had perceived about art, she made it her mission to bring light to the different paths I could take with my art. Through her classes, I learned more about the art field and what my primary interest was, which was illustration. I was able to grow my skill and had been mentored from the artists that came to visit my class to teach. The information and new skills I could learn gave me the push to pursue a career as an illustrator and improve my work. I learned a lot about myself and what I wanted to do with my life through all the mentors that came to visit. I knew it would not be easy for me and I would have to give my all to exceed expectations, even through hard times. Without those teachers that had my back and the experiences I had, I think I would have been unhappy with myself. I am grateful to this day for having teachers that saw something in my work and helped me every step of the way to make sure I did not give up.

At this point in my life I am still learning and trying to figure out what I want to do in the future. I never had the opportunity to explore more with my art because I grew up in a low income family. Now that I am in college for an illustration degree there are many things that I want to try out to expand on my art style. I created these illustrations as a millstone in my digital art which I have little to no experience whatsoever. These drawings showcase how far I have come with digital design and a hope for the future as to what my art will evolve into.