My name is Heba Rena Yassin, a fine/digital artist. I was born in Sutton, UK and grew up in Limassol, Cyprus. I have been attending Cyprus Comic Con since its first one ever in 2014.

I studied BA Fine Art at the University of Hertfordshire (2011-2014) and later MA in Digital Art and Design at the University of Nicosia (2014-2016) where I further developed my passion for digital art.

I live and work in the UK. I love anime, manga, cats, Japanese food and bubble tea.

My work is very much influenced by Japanese art and culture. I have always been interested in Character Design, Narrative and Illustration. I create my own comics, character designs/illustrations based on my own or others people’s stories. I believe that ”Practice, Patience, Persistance” is essential to being a good artist. The more time we invest in our work, the more we progress, and the better our work becomes.

My current interests are Japanese fashion. In my spare time, I like to make my own accessories and apparel inspired by J-fashion and have launched a online shop on etsy, called ‘FairyCakez’.

Except from my commissioned artwork and my own projects, I also work as a visitor assistant at various museums and galleries in London, as well as a ‘kawaii’ stationary shop selling products from Japan and Korea.

I have worked as a character designer and comic page creator for Tag2 Team Studios in 2015. I have created a short comic entitled ‘SAM’, pubished by WriteCY, a creative writing joint, in collaboration with a writer, for ‘The Comic Book Project’ in 2016. I have self published a comic entitled ‘KOKORO’ inspired by Japanese anime and manga in 2016. I have exhibited at other group exhibitions and events. Some examples are Malta Comic Con 2015, ELCAF (East London Comics & Arts Festival) (2018), House of Illustration Summer Fair (2018), Hyper Japan Festival (2022), Artists Alley at Geek Retreat Welwyn (2022) and more.

I have also recently run manga workshops at local libraries in Hertfordshire (e.g. ‘My Story’ Manga Workshop at Hatfield Library 2022).

My aim is to be able to keep creating and bring my own and other people’s visions to life, and to be appreciated for what I do.

The best part of CCC is meeting both new and old faces and talk about the popular culture we love.

You can find Heba’s work on Instagram.