Nigerian Artist Goes Viral For His Incredible Pencil Drawing of Kevin Hart

Young Artist’s Incredible Kevin Hart Drawing Gets Amazing Response from Comedian Himself

By Emma Taggart on March 7, 2019

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A post shared by Eli Waduba Yusuf (@eli_waduba4real) on Mar 18, 2019 at 5:12pm PDT

In today’s competitive art world, some creatives might agree that it can be a struggle to gain exposure. But thanks to social media, unknown talent has a chance to be discovered on a global scale. One young artist to recently get his big break is Nigeria-based Eli Wuduba Yusuf, who creates incredible hyperrealistic pencil drawings. For one of his most recent works, Yusuf paid tribute to his favorite comedian, Kevin Hart, with a portrait in jaw-dropping detail. He posted the artwork on Twitter in the hopes that Hart would see it. Two days and thousands of retweets later, he got his wish and much more.

To Yusuf’s surprise, an extremely impressed Hart tweeted back with an incredible offer. “I see it and I want to purchase it,” he wrote. “I also want to support you and your amazing talent by giving you a fee to do a pencil drawing of 3 of my celebrity friends that I can gift it to.” Since then, Yusuf is now the process of selling the portrait and has started working on Hart’s commissions. “I hoped he would see it and actually believed he would see it someday,” Waduba reveals. “But I did not know it would happen so fast. It has been so overwhelming and words cannot describe it.”

Inspired by the work of fellow hyperrealist artist Arinze Stanley, Yusuf is one of many talented Nigerian artists who deserve global recognition. “I loved drawing growing up,” he says, “but I knew I could be better when I saw the works of people like people Arinze Stanley, Kelvin Okafor and Ken Nwadiogbu.”

You can see more of Yusuf’s incredible drawings on Twitter and Instagram.

Nigerian artist Eli Wuduba Yusuf created this incredible hyperrealistic pencil drawing of his favorite comedian, Kevin Hart.

Please retweet until @KevinHart4real sees it.
He's one of my favorite comedian, help a brother out. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/AfoOKMClpy

— Eli Waduba (@EWaduba) February 22, 2019

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A post shared by Eli Waduba Yusuf (@eli_waduba4real) on Mar 18, 2019 at 5:19pm PDT

The portrait soon went viral on Twitter.

My name is Eli Waduba Yusuf
Am a Nigerian, based in kaduna. Am a hyperrealism PENCIL Artist, I hope to become like @Harinzeyart. Please Retweet, let @KevinHart4real see it, thank you pic.twitter.com/oYYUQxbK5e

— Eli Waduba (@EWaduba) February 25, 2019

Hart saw it, offered to buy it, and even commissioned new works!

I see it and I want to purchase it…I also want to support you and your amazing talent by giving you a fee to do a pencil drawing of 3 of my celebrity friends that I can gift it to. DM your info and let’s get to work! https://t.co/ImOYa0UNlL

— Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) February 27, 2019

God has finally made my dream a reality… Am so grateful @KevinHart4real for stooping so low for someone like me, am so grateful for everyone who contributed in one way or the other to make this dream become a reality. I lack words to appreciate you. Thank you so much. pic.twitter.com/17b8Au86Tl

— Eli Waduba (@EWaduba) March 4, 2019