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BUBBLY teenager Aliyah Mohammad Sultan is drawing attention to her digital skills with her creative illustrations for children’s stories, books and calendars.
The 13-year-old Zanoobia Intermediate Girl School student’s designs have also won her several awards, including being one of the five winning storybook illustrations for the Bahrain Trust Foundation.
While her future looks bright in the digital world, she plans to pursue her passion for animation as well.
“My lifelong dream is to become an animation artist,” the Bahraini eighth-grade student from Muharraq told GulfWeekly.
“I love to create illustrations, but in the future, I have plans to become an animator and with that, the sky is the limit.
“I made an animated short film for my primary school graduation in 2022 and it was played at the ceremony in Muharraq Primary School. The content was written by my beloved Arabic teacher AlAnoud Fahad, and the music was done by Noora Alsubhi.
“I will keep practising, learning more and growing in the digital art field.”
In the meantime, she will continue being inspired by everyday life events as well as her dreams.
“My school friends and their different characters are also an inspiration,” she added.
“I have built up the habit of writing my dreams in a small booklet whenever I wake up with a feeling of something special— whether it’s a happy or a sad dream.”
As a self-taught artist, Aliyah likes to work with all types of mediums.
“It’s always depending on my mood, I am more into digital art creating characters and illustrations,” she said.
“I am also into writing my own stories and making their illustrations at the same time. I get offered to make illustrations for children’s story books and I enjoy doing those projects. I am very much into the comic style when it comes to delivering a short and quick message.”
One of her first digital artworks entitled Be Kind was featured in a 2022 calendar for Artists for a Cause, in collaboration with the Cartoon Planet.
She even illustrated characters for Bahraini author Zainab Ali Abdulmajid’s book Miqdaam Brings Back the Days, published early this year by the Bahrain Trust Foundation. She also illustrated a story for the foundation’s project ‘Spaces for All’ for Eid Al Adha entitled Eid is Here!, which was launched on all its media platforms.
Aliyah has also taken part in an array of exhibitions and programmes.
“It was an honour to participate in an exhibition conducted by Artists for a Cause Programme, under the patronage of American ambassador Steven Bondy and with the support of the Muharraq Model Youth Centre last year,” she said. “The subjects were women empowerment and future of Bahraini society. It was a great experience to join this exhibition as I got the chance to showcase my skills to the public.”
For traditional art, she prefers using watercolour, dry pastels, sketch pens and pencil colours. But when it comes to digital art, photoshop, Krita, illustrator and Procreate are her mediums of choice….and they haven’t failed her as she has won almost every contest that she entered including taking first place in the FARHA Charity Organisation’s Drawing Competition in 2020 called ‘The first thing you want to do after Corona is over’.
She also came first in the Albothoor Charity Organisation and Jamiat Al Islah Society’s ‘Palestine in our Hearts’ Drawing contest as well as in the My Candy Lab Chocolate Wrappers Art competition.
She came second at the Nakhool Star 2021 Bahrain Summer Festival for writing and illustrating an Arabic short story.
It’s no wonder Aliyah racks up so many victories as designing is in her blood.
“Both my parents have professions in design,” she said.
“When I was in kindergarten, they always provided me with art supplies, sat with me while I was drawing or painting, and encouraged me all the time.
“It was fun for me to play with colours rather than toys and make my homework more extraordinary and interesting with my artwork. I always used to take part in school art competitions and happily won them.”
When her father Mohammad Sultan Yaqub, 44, an executive head of the Design Department at the Interior Ministry, saw that she could be an artist, he gave her a digital drawing screen for her 10th birthday.
“I still remember the excitement of scribbling on the screen and looking at unlimited options and results of my artwork,” she shared. “And then my journey to become a digital artist from a traditional artist began. That was in 2020. By the grace of Allah, I was always encouraged and provided with the right equipment to improve my skills and as a reward for my efforts, each time I achieved something in the field.”
Meanwhile, her father is proud of her work and says that she is ‘ahead of her time’.
“If she keeps on working hard and concentrating on her goals to achieve what she wants, she will go places,” said Mohammed.
“She co-operates well while we work on any project together, and is extremely enthusiastic to learn.
“I am in a similar line of profession which makes me and Aliyah perfect partners during practice. Our workplace is in the same room to make it convenient for us to work on different projects and give opinions on each other’s work.
“I hope the best in the world for her and I am lucky to have a daughter like her.
“I want her to become emotionally and financially independent early in her life to aim for the best in the world and hereafter.”
The two are a pair and jam together musically as she plays the piano and he plays the guitar.
For details on her art, follow @ artycraftyaliyah on Instagram.
