Portraits

Kelvin Okafor is a remarkable artist and this publication brings together forty-three of his drawings in high quality images. The unique technique that Kelvin has developed in order to create these masterpieces is shown through a set of videos going through the stages of ten portraits all the way from a blank sheet of paper to the final portrait. There is a video interview with Kelvin, in which he speaks of his love of drawing people and the desire to create an emotional connection between the subject model and a viewer. The book also includes an article written by critic Estelle Lovatt on how his works go beyond being just ‘Photorealist’ drawings, and instead coins the term ‘Emotional Realism’ to describe the truly affective nature of his beautiful artwork.


“I want my portraits to prompt an emotional response in viewers. When drawing, I have in mind my relationship with the sitter and knowledge of their personality, but I know that someone else viewing the finished piece may not know them. So I want a viewer to know the person’s character and feel a connection to them in the same way that I do when I draw them. This shared sense of connection, and the emotional response that a portrait can provoke in people looking at them, is of great importance to me.”

- Kelvin Okafor