1. ORIGIN — WHERE IT STARTED

My name is Samuel Nana Yaw Adjei, also known as SOL.

I was born in Ghana and raised in SOS Children’s Village. My early life wasn’t defined by ambition, it was defined by adaptation. Most days were about survival, structure, and trying to build stability in unstable conditions.

In that environment, I found drawing.

It started with cartoons on Saturdays. Simple sketches. Small escapes into imagination. But over time, it became something more serious. The first thing that gave me identity, direction, and continuity.

I didn’t have materials, training, or mentorship.

But I kept drawing anyway.

2. SELF-EDUCATION — BUILDING WITHOUT RESOURCES

What began as drawing expanded into a self-taught creative education.

I taught myself illustration, animation, storytelling, digital art, photography, fashion design, and world-building. Everything came through repetition, experimentation, and observation rather than formal training.

But a lot of my creative foundation didn’t just come from drawing, it came from my environment.

I grew up in SOS Children’s Village in Ghana, and the high school next to it shared the same campus environment. Between both spaces was a large disposal area where students and staff would throw away old magazines, clothes, electronics, and materials.

As children, we used to go there often.

For most people it was trash. For us, it was discovery.

I would find discarded hip-hop and culture magazines—XXL, The Source, old fashion and music publications and, study them in detail. I would trade, search, and collect whatever I could get access to.

Through those pages I learned about visual identity, styling, confidence, culture, and storytelling. Artists like Lil Wayne, fashion styling, album covers, typography, and street culture became my early reference library.

Long before I understood design formally, I was learning how images create identity.

That environment became an unexpected creative classroom.

It shaped how I see composition, culture, and visual storytelling to this day.

At the same time, I continued building my own work with limited resources. At one point, I was working on a damaged iPad, drawing with my finger because I couldn’t afford better tools. Even under those conditions, I kept creating characters, concepts, and visual worlds.

Out of this long process came Fire Gods Chronicles, an animation universe I’ve been developing over several years through illustration, narrative design, and visual development.

3. FROM VISUAL ARTIST TO ANIMATION CREATOR

For most of my early career, I worked primarily as a visual artist. My focus was on illustration, fashion, visual design, and leather design installation-based creative work.

My practice was rooted in static imagery, cultural symbolism, and physical/digital visual expression.

But over time, something shifted.

I began to realize that the stories I was building were not meant to stay still.

They needed movement.

That realization marked a turning point in my practice. From visual and installation work into animation as a primary medium.

I began teaching myself animation independently, building workflows, studying motion principles, and developing a portfolio from scratch without formal animation training.

This transition wasn’t academic, it was self-directed, built through persistence and necessity.

Animation became the medium where all my earlier disciplines merged:

drawing, storytelling, fashion aesthetics, cultural symbolism, and world-building.

4. OPPORTUNITIES AND THE REPEATED PATTERN

As my work developed, opportunities began to appear.

I received recognition for my art and gained admission into respected institutions. My work was being seen and taken seriously.

But a pattern kept repeating itself.

I could earn the opportunity.

I could not always afford to take it.

This happened more than once.

Each time, I had to pause, step back, and rebuild from where I was.

Still, I never stopped creating.

5. BREAKDOWN AND ISOLATION

After losing opportunities I had worked hard to earn, I went through a long period of isolation and emotional strain.

I moved to a small coastal town in Ghana, where I continued creating quietly while trying to rebuild myself mentally, creatively, and financially.

There were moments where everything I had built felt like it was slipping away at once.

At my lowest point, I reached a stage where I was no longer sure how to continue with life itself.

It wasn’t just creative exhaustion. It was a deeper collapse—mentally, emotionally, and existentially.

But I kept going.

6. TURNING POINT — HUMAN INTERRUPTION

During that period, something unexpected happened.

A young lady who worked with disadvantaged children visited my studio.

We spoke for a long time. She shared parts of her life; loss, survival, and what it meant to continue despite everything.

What stayed with me wasn’t just her pain. It was her continuation.

She didn’t stop living. She didn’t stop serving others.

That moment interrupted the direction I was heading in.

It didn’t erase what I was feeling, but it shifted my response to it.

I started creating again.

7. SOL’S ART ACADEMY — FROM PERSONAL SURVIVAL TO STRUCTURE

From that point, I began teaching art to children in my community using whatever materials I could find.

This grew into a structured initiative:

Sol’s Art Academy — a community-based creative education program in Busua, Ghana, focused on underserved youth.

The Academy provides training in visual arts, animation foundations, digital literacy, fashion, cultural identity, and creative entrepreneurship.

It was built from lived experience and designed for young people who, like me, have talent but limited access to opportunity.

What began as survival became structure.

What began as individual practice became shared development.

8. CURRENT MOMENT — LEEDS AND THE FINAL OPPORTUNITY

Today, I have been offered admission to the MA Animation programme at Leeds Arts University in the United Kingdom.

This is a continuation of a long journey rather than a beginning.

I was originally trained as a visual and installation-based artist, but over time transitioned into animation as my primary medium. This programme represents the formal continuation of a path I have already been building independently for years.

I have been accepted before, but financial limitations forced me to defer multiple times. Each time, I used the time to improve my portfolio and strengthen my animation practice.

Now, after three deferrals, I am approaching what may be my final opportunity to take this place.

Without funding, this opportunity may be withdrawn.

That is the reality I am facing.

9. THE ASK

This campaign is not about starting a dream.

It is about not letting one end here.

I have already spent years building toward this moment, developing my skills, transitioning into animation, creating a portfolio, and building both personal and community-based creative work through Sol’s Art Academy.

I am seeking support to cover tuition, accommodation, travel, visa costs, and related expenses required to take up this opportunity.

Any contribution, no matter the size, brings me closer to continuing this journey.

If you are unable to contribute financially, sharing this campaign also helps.

10. WHY THIS MATTERS — SOL’S ART ACADEMY & WHAT COMES NEXT

There are many young creatives across Africa and beyond who are building serious work but are held back by financial barriers.

I understand this experience personally.

That is why I built Sol’s Art Academy — a community-based creative education initiative in Busua, Ghana, designed for underserved youth who have talent but lack access to structured training and opportunity.

The Academy focuses on visual arts, animation foundations, digital literacy, fashion, cultural identity, and creative entrepreneurship.

This is not a side project. It is the foundation of my long-term work.

The goal is to expand it into a fully structured creative education hub that provides training, mentorship, and real pathways into creative industries especially animation, design, and storytelling.

Studying MA Animation at Leeds Arts University is a critical step in that direction.

It allows me to deepen my technical ability, formalize my practice in animation, and bring that knowledge back into building and scaling Sol’s Art Academy into a stronger, more sustainable structure.

This campaign is not only about my education.

It is about building the capacity to expand opportunity for others through structured creative education.

That is the path I am committed to.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story and support my work.

With gratitude,

Samuel Nana Adjei “SOL”