Kelvin Okafor: To Be Real

Anyone staring at a Kelvin Okafor drawing for the first time would probably think he had some famous friends based on how many photos of celebrities that he has collected. Except, the pictures aren’t actually photographs, they are drawings. They are extremely detailed and realistic drawings done with only charcoal and pencils. There is a lot of preparation and time that goes into creating these drawings. Okafor says his pictures take 80 to 100 hours to finish, not to mention the preparation that happens before he actually starts to draw the picture.

“Before I start drawing, I spend a few hours — even a few days — analyzing the face from every angle,” he told the Daily Mail, a newspaper in the United Kingdom. “I usually start with the eyes. From there, I make the whole shape of the face and I work in the detail.” When he does start to draw, he takes his time and focuses on one part of  the picture at a time. No matter who he is drawing, he uses the same method for each picture. “I draw in sections. I’m right-handed so I work from left to right. After I’ve finished the left eye, I work the nostrils, then the left side of the cheek, then the lips. I always work in that order,” he continued.
Okafor’s interest in the arts started when he was a child and continued into college. “When I was a kid I always had an eye for anything creative from music to art,” he told Live, Learn, Communicate blog. “My curiosity to draw was driven wanting to reproduce images that were of any interest and I decided to continue with following and nurturing my passion through to university level.  After university I didn’t really know where I wanted to go but I knew I wanted to keep drawing, so I took a leap of faith and decided to focus solely on drawing.”

Drawing was also an escape for Okafor. His family was very poor when he was growing and they were so poor  their house was repossessed after a trip to his parents’ native Nigeria. “It was a struggle. That’s why I spent a lot of time by myself, drawing. I didn’t have the luxury of going out and spending money,” he told the Daily Mail.
Okafor ended up attending Middlesex University in London and began to post his pictures on the internet. Posting them on Facebook ended up generating a buzz for the young artist. The 27-year-old now commands anywhere from $1000 to $4500 for his drawings. Okafor’s subjects are mainly celebrities because he has presented the pictures to the subjects for charity auctions, but he will do pictures of regular models. He is willing to expand his work.
Okafor is steadily making a name for himself and he hopes that name will lead him to his ultimate dream. “My ultimate aspiration is to get big enough to one day have my own gallery.  At the moment I thought I would love to get my work into some high end galleries,” he said. “I have done a few exhibitions in the past and am working towards doing some more this year hopefully. Continuously trying to create the best work, I think I can go on to present my pieces at the best galleries.”

Ultimately, he is doing something that a lot of people don’t like to do out of fear. He is following his passion and he has a few words of advice for people that might be afraid to do the same.
“I think that one of the most important things about following your passion is the fact that tomorrow isn’t promised,” he said to Live Learn Communicate. “You’ll never know how far your potential could stretch if you don’t put in time and effort. Your passion is like a dream, but you’re awake making all the things your passion beholds become a reality through sacrifices and determination.”
Wise words from such a young creator. Like so many before him, Okafor has been able to turn his circumstances into something constructive. All he had to do was pick up a pencil and some charcoal.
–Ashleigh Atwell