Kelvin Okafor (London, England)
Posted by Evan La Ruffa on 28th Mar 2013
Words by Evan La Ruffa
The skill involved in this work is beyond comprehension. We're so floored by the pencil-based illustrations thats Kelvin uses to recreate candid photos of knowns and unknowns. The process pictures on his Facebook page and his blog show the insane attention to detail necessary to create such impeccable renderings. If you show his work to 10 people, 8 of them will argue with you as to whether or not what they're looking at is a photo. THEY ARE NOT PHOTOS. These here, are illustrations. Show them the in-process images, where each line of thin pencil becomes for example, Beyonce's hair. Whether Lauryn Hill, Mother Teresa, or any of the other faces he recreates in his work, we're aghast by the success of his endeavors. For those of us who bounce from project to project like a distracted puppy, the idea of sitting down and focusing so acutely is incredible. Kelvin Okafor is from London, graduated from Middlesex University, and was born in nineteen hundred and eighty five. This young artist is someone IPaintMyMind is sure to check in on from time to time, as faces as of yet uncreated are sure to flow through his hands and on to paper. With the skill to match the precision of his cornea's, we are astounded by the passion and emotion Kelvin captures. If you want to stay updated on his projects, he's a great follow on Twitter. He posts photos of his illustrations as they come to life, revealing stage by stage, the object of his dedicated focus. We thank a dear friend for alerting us to Kelvin's astonishing work, we are now better for having encountered it.
Kelvin's blog has a lot more amazing in process photos, enjoy!