GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Seven years ago, in the old Shujaiyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, the artistic talent of Mohammad Qureiqai, 12, was discovered as he was making pencil sketches in his notebook. His journey of being acknowledged as a creative artist began.

Mohammad’s eldest brother, Malek, 23, could not believe his eyes when he saw a sketch drawn by Mohammad, who was only five years old at the time. He asked him to redo the sketch multiple times, to make sure that Mohammad had worked on it by himself. Then, Malek started to help him with the drawings, assisting him in coming up with new ideas for his paintings, which were initially produced using only pencil and charcoal.

Al-Monitor met Mohammad in his humble studio, a small room on the rooftop of his two-story house. After school, Mohammad spends long hours in the studio, where he has placed the oil and pencil paintings he produced over seven years ago.

Each painting has a story, and whenever the young artist is asked about a certain painting, he recounts how he came up with the idea and drew it, and the time it took him to make it ready for display. Mohammad was asked to produce some paintings to display in exhibitions about Palestinian causes, like prisoners in Israeli jails, the Nakba and other subjects. However, he is most interested in the paintings whose ideas he has come up with, and he enjoys talking about them at length.

“I go to sleep and wake up dreaming of new drawings. My life has now become my drawings and paintings. Everything you see around me are ideas for old or new paintings,” Mohammad said with a shy smile, explaining the importance painting holds for him.

“A few days ago, I sat for official school exams. After I finished my test, the supervisor would not let me go until the time was up, so I drew on the answer sheet to pass time. This angered the teacher, who asked me to erase the drawing before submitting it,” he said.

He tries to develop his painting skills through self-learning on the Internet, examining the paintings of other artists and continuously watching videos on YouTube that explain the correct methods to paint objects in such a way that they appear three dimensional.

“With the help of my brother Malek, I try to learn new drawing methods by using the Internet, and find ideas to put on canvas,” he said.

“My neighbors told me more than once: ‘Drawing is useless. Work to make a living,’” he said.

Mohammad is determined to become an internationally renowned artist, saying, “I want to study fine arts after I finish school to develop my capacities and talent,” adding, “I hope to live outside Palestine where art and drawing are valued, and where I can meet international and famous artists.”

All photos of Mohammad Qureiqai, 12, with his paintings and sketches at his home in Gaza City, May 13, 2014. Taken by: Hazem Balousha