Illustrator and animator Anna Blanki connects the so-called magical world of fairy tales to the complex and gloomy world of mental disorders • Recently, she also designed a Bell pin to represent rape victims

It seems that no matter how much we try and maybe even manage to "open our heads a little" when it comes to mental disorders, contain, understand and show greater sensitivity to those who suffer from them, the subject is still considered taboo and often prefer to treat it like the elephant in the room: it exists, but let Avoid talking about it.

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A post shared by Anna belenkiy (@annabell_illustration) on Aug 22, 2020 at 8:45 am PDT

The one who decided not to be silent anymore is the illustrator and animator Anna Blanki, who used her personal experience and created a unique, charming and important project that aims to raise awareness of the subject in a sensitive and accessible way. It connects the supposedly magical world of fairy tales to the often complex and gloomy world of mental disorders.

"Princesses are human too"

"It started with people in the immediate circle asking me why I'm so tired and exhausted all the time," Blanky says of the inspiration behind the project she created.

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A post shared by Anna belenkiy (@annabell_illustration) on Aug 8, 2020 at 9:34 am PDT

"When I explained to them that it was due to depression they had a hard time understanding the connection point. From there the idea was born to try to expose the public through my personal experiences to common mental disorders like depression, anxiety and PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Blanky, 30, from Sderot, is an animator and illustrator who studied at Sapir College and specialized in the field of stop motion. The choice of Disney princesses, which are usually associated with fairy tales whose end is magical, even if they have difficulties at times, was not accidental, Blanky tells of the project that began seven weeks ago in total.

"I chose Disney Princesses primarily because I am a die-hard fan, but beyond that of course there is a deeper reason. Children and adults have always seen Disney Princesses as personal models. Unlike the realities of our lives, in the Disney world everything always ends in a happy ending and seemingly very perfect. "And despite the difficulties they went through, they remained flawless," says Blanki.

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"In real life this is not the case. A lot of people deal with various mental disorders that are a product of past experiences in life. My goal in this project is basically to 'break' the character of the perfect princess and show that princesses are allowed to be human and can suffer from a variety of disorders because of their life stories. ", She adds. 

"I felt that there was no open and inclusive dialogue about mental struggles and that was accompanied by a feeling of shame and concealment. One of the reasons I speak openly about my personal struggles is that there is nothing embarrassing and shameful about it, on the contrary. I am not the only one, there are many more people with me so far. Feel alone. ”

Birth of a princess

The process of creating the character as expected is not simple and it starts of course at the thought stage and after that the decision on which princess will most accurately represent the message that Blankie wants to convey about one mental disorder or another that she chooses to give her the focus.

"In each character I usually invest an average of eight hours of work," she details the creative process. "I start with an outline sketch and after that comes the color and shading phase. I started as a One Woman Show, but I always get ideas and requests from people who ask me to put a certain disorder in the discourse. With eating disorders I did not plan to make such a pin. .

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A post shared by Anna belenkiy (@annabell_illustration) on Aug 19, 2020 at 6:40 am PDT

So far, Blankie has created seven different pins, including Snow White (Eating Disorder), Cinderella (Depression), Elsa (Anxiety) Mulan (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

The shocking rape case that took place in Eilat caused her to slightly change the original design for the next pin, and she felt she had to design a pin that would also represent the rape victims. This is how a pin was created last weekend that the princess representing her is Belle ("Beauty and the Beast").

"I'm always very open to hearing ideas and suggestions. I've also received inquiries about male characters of Disney heroes and not necessarily princesses, so it could very well be that I will expand the project to more Disney heroes and more disruptions in the future.

With the success of the project, Blankie began to gain quite a few followers on the network who begged her to sell the pins she produces, but she insists that as of today the project is one hundred percent on a voluntary basis.

"I do not sell the pins. The pins are accessible to anyone who wants them through a link I upload after each post. In the link you can download all the pins independently and at no cost at all and print it independently on a shirt / pin / poster, etc. It is very important to me that it be It is also accessible to those who are not financially enabled, "she explained why she does not currently intend to turn the successful project into an additional source of income.

Blanky says that since the project came up and previously on her Facebook and Instagram page (which has more than 4,800 followers, including Neta Barzilai), she has received hundreds of private comments on both platforms.

"People have shared with me their struggles and it was really, really exciting to see that people are slowly opening up to this discourse, sharing and empowering. I have received several requests to use illustrations in psychiatric institutions and institutions treating at-risk youth, and of course The pins, "Blanky says.

"I'm really trying to put my heart into this project and it excites me a lot to have a dialogue about it," Blankie concluded. I very much hope and wish that people will open up to the issue and that there will be a healthy, inclusive and stigma-free discourse. "