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About me

Hi, I'm Aydan.

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember – and every new face excites me all over again. Here you'll find out who's behind the portraits, what drives me and where the journey is heading. Lovely to have you here!

Aydan Lig'on, the artist behind SmileyFoxyPortraits
References

Experience you can see

Drawing table full of portraits at the Saunasplash Festival

Saunasplash Festival

Three days of live drawing, 1,500+ guests – straight from Mauerpark to the festival.

The story
Framed staff portrait on the wall of the Spaghetteria

Staff portraits

A portrait series for the whole team – as a project in my advanced art class.

Read more
In progress

What I'm working on right now

  • Berlin markets: Soon you'll also find me with my mobile portrait stand at regular Berlin markets. Which ones and when is on Instagram.
  • First auction: An original red sketch, drawn live in 15 minutes – no starting price, bid until 31 Dec 2026 (German page).
  • Pilot team for the Kleckerkasten: The first team gets the workshop at half price – more about it.
  • “Berlin between day and night”: a watercolour series about street art, demos and dawn – later also as prints.
  • Group exhibition: Photos and the story behind it are coming soon to the references page.
  • My story as a reel: from drawing on the S-Bahn to today – in 60 seconds.

News about all of this goes out first in the newsletter (one e-mail a month at most).

Who am I?

“I draw from the gut – and look for the picture that fits each person exactly.”
Hand-drawn comic banner: Aydan with a fox hat and fox paws, cheering with both hands in the air
Me as a cartoon character – with fox hat and fox paws, drawn by my friend Jerzy.

I'm Aydan Lig'on, born in 2005, at home in Berlin and raised bilingual – with roots in Germany and the USA. At school, art and English were my advanced subjects, and my portraits have already hung in Berlin restaurants.

When I draw, I like to ask about the style: ink and fineliner feel serious and clear, watercolour playful and a little chaotic – both together show a many-layered character.

Right now, art gets all my time: drawing outdoors, events and the Kleckerkasten. By September 2027 it should be able to support me on its own – I'm keeping the tax field open as a second pillar.

  • My 3 F's: family, fitness and freedom.
  • What fascinates me: digital art, videography, game design, psychology and entrepreneurship.
  • Drawing with others: at the Castle Drawing Meetup in Berlin.

Why I do this

Instagram story of someone I drew, thanking SmileyFoxyPortraits for their portrait

Sometimes I draw someone completely spontaneously – and days later I get a message like this. A small portrait can make a hard day a little lighter. That's exactly why I do this.

For the curious · Music

Bands, drawn live

I rarely sit still at concerts: while the band plays, I draw them – with fineliner, ink and watercolour, right in the stage lights. Sometimes the sketches end up with the musicians themselves. Click a picture to see it big. Pictures with ▣ are small series to click through.

Four blue concert sketches▣ 4
Live sketch of CEVIL in pink stage light▣ 4
Red-orange watercolour of a musician, shared by him on Instagram▣ 3
A band live on stage, drawings held up in front Colourful watercolour sketches of musicians Three watercolour portraits of musicians
Concert sketches and a watercolour box▣ 6
Delicate watercolour sketches on a wooden table A musician holding her live-drawn portrait Blue sketch of a guitarist Three watercolour sketches in hands Three concert sketches in orange light

From my blog

Since 2023 I've been writing on Substack about art, setbacks and habits – mostly in English, honestly and with my own drawings. A selection:

Browse all 22 posts

New posts by e-mail? One e-mail a month at most.

Or read directly on Substack.

Music

Cover: Bad Minecraft
Song

Bad Minecraft

When I'm not drawing, I make music – anxiety-driven, honest, a little broken.

Listen on Bandcamp →

Learning tools

Free learning tools I use myself

Habits

Hands-on practice

  • keybr – type faster; thanks to this site I'm among the fastest 10 % worldwide
  • Ultraspeaking – exercises for speaking freely and self-confidence
  • Line of Action – drawing references with a timer for the basics (alternative: Pinterest)
  • Ableton Learning Music – get a feel for music interactively and experiment

Courses

  • freeCodeCamp – learn to code (alternative: mooc.fi)
  • Khan Academy – a digital school for coding and everyday knowledge
  • Coursera – like Skillshare, many courses for free

Other

  • Songsterr – play along to songs with notes and tabs
  • Slowly – pen pals: practise writing and meet new people

A little every day takes you a long way.

Questions and answers

May I use or remix your work?

For private, non-commercial purposes you're welcome to share, use and remix my work – make something paw-some out of it! Please credit me (SmileyFoxyPortraits).

Portraits of people are the exception: the people in them have the right to their own image. For commercial use, just drop me a line at aydan@smileyfoxyportraits.com.

Can I hire you, interview you or do a project with you?

Absolutely! Whether it's an event, interview, talk, collaboration, project idea or a correction – write to me at aydan@smileyfoxyportraits.com. For events and team workshops you can also go straight to the events page.

Which pronouns do you use?

I'm genderfluid and use all pronouns – mostly he/him, but also she/her and they/them.

Let's talk!

Whether it's a portrait idea, an event, a collaboration or just a “Hi, I saw you at Mauerpark!” – I'm genuinely happy about every message and read everything myself. Write to me at aydan@smileyfoxyportraits.com or visit the contact page.

Removal requests: you're in a picture on my website or on Instagram and don't want to be anymore? Write to me at the same address and I'll take it down.

psst … what I'm working on (German) →