What do you do? Describe your work?
I work majorly with pens. Some of the media I also employ include water colour, coloured pencils and graphite and charcoal pencils. I however work with these media once in a blue moon. I also write.
How did art begin for you?
I started drawing when I was five. I remember the first thing I drew that took my fancy was a house with two windows flanking a door. A tree was also drawn beside the house. My teacher liked it. So did my classmates. That was in a drawing class. My talent was discovered. I never stopped drawing since then. However, it wasn’t until I got into the university before I began to bridge the hobby-career divide.
What are the skills required to be a successful artist?
To be is to do. Being a successful artist requires, in my own opinion, more guts than skills. Any artist that seeks to carve out a niche for himself has to develop a strong sense of purpose and character. He also has to familiarize himself with rudimentary drawing skills such as shading, control, style, precision etc before learning the ropes of more advanced skills like chiaroscuro, contrast handling, tones and values, translucency through dints of practice.
What is usually on your mind before you paint or draw?
The picture of the anticipated end-product in my mind’s eye. This gives the necessary motivation to embark on the piece. The financial or complimentary rewards to be had after completion could also be important motivating factors.
What is the most challenging artwork you have encountered and who (is) are the artist?
Samuel Silva and Kelvin Okafor (coloured ballpoint pen and pencil artists respectively) always leave me in awe of their works. In particular, Raphael’s “Head of an Apostle”, a work from the Renaissance era, challenges me the most because of its depth, a masterpiece in every sense of the word.
What gives you the thrills or chills before embarking on a work?
A mental picture of the end from the beginning does. It gets my thinking into a euphoric state, and this is vital to the success of the drawing process. There is also a hunger to create wonderful art in me which has never fully been satiated. However, it takes only working consistency to drive the morph of conception into reality.
You have tons of artwork. Which is your favourite?
“Adam’s apples” (though I’m not done with it). I also love “Restitution”. It’s my first coloured pencil drawing.
How do you combine art and school work?
That’s quite difficult. Where there’s a will, though, there’s a way. I simply make out time to do it out of my busy study schedule. If you are truly passionate about doing something, you will certainly squeeze out time for it.
Has it been Lucrative?
Yes. I do get commissions from people- students, lecturers, friends and corporate individuals. Whenever there’s a demand for my personal works, I sell them if I’m willing to let them go and if the pay is good.
What are the easily most recognizable features about your work?
I work with black ballpoint pens in most of my drawings. That’s a quite unique feature. I also do photorealistic replications.
What are the challenges as a young budding artist in Nigeria?
Many, amongst which are lack of sufficient parental encouragement. Most Nigerian parents would rather prefer their talented kids become doctors or engineers than becoming artists, dearth of quality art materials, inadequacy of financial appreciation of arts in this part of the world. People can easily tell of how good your work is, but they seldom want to pay well for it.
Advise to potential artists?
Art is very wide. Find a special aspect of art and stay therein. Be the best you can in it. No one can be a jack-of-all-arts. Hardwork, practice and consistency are also inevitable qualities an artist should possess.
What is the place of artists like yourself in Nigeria?
Artists’ works are part of the preserving spice of our cultural essence and the fibre that clothes this nation in beauty. We are entrusted with the rebuilding and rebranding of our dear country. We are also vital to the socio-cultural, human and economy development of Nigeria, as we artists speak the lingo of the people we represent through art. In our generation is embedded latent talent that is gradually taking mature shape, hereby embodying the spirit of intellectual triumph of the young Nigerian spirit.
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