Sophie Ellen
Despite residing in a small country village in England, Disney has been a fundamental part of Sophie’s life for as long as she can remember. Growing up with autism, Sophie struggled throughout school. Bullying and social difficulties had taken a toll on her self-confidence and belief in herself. Art was the only lesson where she felt she could excel.
“I may have trouble processing spoken language but with a pencil in my hand, I can say anything.”
Disney has always been Sophie’s safe place, a constant source of escapism and predictability in a world where nothing made sense. Drawing Disney enabled Sophie to express herself in a way in which she felt understood and accepted. It was the only time all the background stress and anxiety would simply fade away.
Sophie’s art allows us a unique window into how she sees the world. “I see parts of things, the detail, before I see the whole object,” she says. “For example, I see tiny blob shapes, then thin pale lines connecting to one another, then realise I’m looking at a leaf. When I draw, it’s much the same way. I draw the detail and texture first, then this slowly creates the whole image.”
Since walking into a Disney Gallery at Walt Disney World at age 6, something lit up inside Sophie and she made it her mission to one day become a Disney artist. Unable to attend art school, she was determined and taught herself to draw the Disney way by studying every book by Disney’s legendary animators The Nine Old Men. Practicing from her Learn to Draw Disney books, she began to develop her own unique artistic style.
Sophie relishes the opportunity to bring Disney characters to life by creating highly detailed realistic textures and playing with depth. She creates a three-dimensional effect in her work by adding shadows to make us feel as if these characters really are jumping off the page, blurring the line between their world and ours.
Today, Sophie is deeply honoured to have the opportunity to share her view of the world with you through her Disney artwork and aims to inspire anyone who ever feels they are not good enough to “just keep swimming” because dreams really do come true.
