By Pauline Odhiambo
Pablo Picasso, the Spanish master, famously said that "everything you can imagine is real".
Ghanaian artist Julian Selby started drawing professionally only eight years ago, but the power of his imagination infuses in his art a nuanced, other-worldly perspective of reality that belies his age and experience.
Julian's strength is portraiture. With razor-sharp focus, technique and the rare gift of capturing the unexpressed, the 32-year-old pencils his canvases with faces and emotions that are real yet layered in mystique.
Many admirers find it hard to believe that this young man who uses the pseudonym Pimpin, an acronym for "Prosperity is My Pride in Nature", is self-taught and relatively new to the craft.
He takes such fulsome praise in his stride as he would criticism, reminding himself that he is a learner striving to get better each day and with every stroke.
"I started drawing after finishing university," Julian, who studied ports and shipping administration in Accra, tells TRT Afrika.
"I have always been an introvert, so I would spend hours in my room just scribbling away even as I was applying for jobs."
While waiting for a job to come his way, Julian realised he could make money from his art. By then, he had served the mandatory one-year community service required of all Ghanaians and was free to do his own thing.
"I created many concepts and started posting some of them online," says the artist, who drew inspiration from watching other pencil artists on YouTube.
"The first artwork I sold was to someone I didn't know. The buyer had seen my pieces online," he recalls.
Soaring popularity
What started as an introvert's casual scribbling in his bedroom blossomed into a full-fledged business, with orders for portraits pouring in from ordinary citizens and some of Africa's crème de la crème.
Julian's commissioned artworks include portraits of former President John Kufour of Ghana and Liberia's erstwhile President George Weah, among other prominent personalities.
"I realised early that you need a signature style to make an impact. Most artists were drawing with charcoal and graphite. I picked graphite and tweaked the tone because I wanted to be unique," says Julian, who calls his oeuvre "Artwork by Pimpin".
"I kept learning techniques and have combined many styles to create my own."
Having embraced a full-time career as a pencil artist specialising in hyper-realism, Julian's maritime training is a distant memory.
"Going viral meant that even my old friends from university reached out to me for orders. Some of them were curious about my sudden switch from the shipping industry to pencil art," he says.
His master's muse
Despite his portraits being in demand, conceptual art remains Julian's true passion.
"I am a conceptual artist at heart. I create most of the concepts myself, then take pictures of my muse before I start working," he tells TRT Afrika.
Julian has been credited with bringing pencil art to the limelight in Ghana and has created 150 concepts on varying themes. He is most proud of a piece titled "The Struggle", where the subject is depicted trying to escape a difficult situation.
"The Struggle is about life and its challenges. When you look at the image, you see the subject being pulled in different directions by a chain tied around the neck. I used that concept to explain how people will pull you from left and right in life, but you have to move up," explains Julian.
"Some people doubted me initially. I got negative comments, with some critics even saying that I was lying about being the creator of my art," he recounts.
"I ignored them because I knew I had to stay focused and keep my dream of becoming an artist alive."
Replicating reality
One of Julian's trademarks is the ability to replicate the emotional characteristics of his subjects – making them appear as life-like as the original.
He takes about five days to complete a portrait, a time-consuming job given the volume of orders and his attention to detail.
His clientele includes people who want to surprise their loved ones with portraits as gifts on birthdays, anniversaries or at retirement parties.
"I get about ten portraiture orders a week, which keeps me pretty busy," he explains.
"I ensure I get all the details on the face and everywhere else. There was this client who brought along a photo where a scar on the face was quite visible. I thought maybe the mark wasn't cool, so I removed it. The person said, 'Why would you remove my mark?' That's when I realised the importance of detail, which I have maintained in all my work."
So, what is it about portraiture that gives Julian the most satisfaction?
"I love capturing the emotion on a person's face and perfecting the expressions to the last detail. That takes a lot of time but is the fun part of my work," he says.
"If a client is unsatisfied with the outcome, I will keep at it until the person is happy."
Occasionally, a compliment would make Julian happier than he is to receive his remuneration.
"Many people tell me the art is even nicer than the original photo. That positive feedback helps me find new ways to improve my art and take it to the next level," he says.
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