He's been drawing for as long as he can remember, taking time to master every shade, texture and creative detail behind his sketches.
Elijah Mnisi (22) tells Drum he started drawing from the age of eight and has been honing his skills over the years. He’s now built up quite a following on social media as a digital sketcher and says he hopes one day his work will be recognised for its great quality.
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The Gauteng artist studied mechanical engineering at Wits but dropped out in his second year after realising it wasn’t what he wanted to pursue as a career.
“Growing up, I was very curious about thigs. I was very much into science. I started drawing around Grade 2. At the time, I wasn’t good at it but eventually, as I grew up, I got better. In Grade 6, I started drawing Dragon Ball Z characters.
“Now I have an interest in sketching portraits but not full-body pictures,” he tells us.
His passion for drawing has resulted in celebrity sketches of people who inspire him in life and he’s proud to share these with his followers.
“I sketch people who I admire, so it’s mainly artists and DJ’s that I sketch. I have sold a lot of sketches. The ones I share on Instagram, I post for people to see my work. But I have sold sketches when people came to me and asked me to sketch their late grandma or someone they love.
“I am not that big but I would like to grow and have people be more aware of my work. This is why I am starting a social media page to have more people see my work.”
Elijah has sketched many great celebrities such as the late Menzi Ngubane, King Zwelithini and Winnie Mandela.
“I have had celebrities shout out my work on social media – sketches of people such as Boity, Moshe and Big Zulu. I would like to have more people see my work and properly monetise my art for my benefit. I mostly make digital sketches and would like that to grow,” he explains.
In the meantime, Elijah has to earn his living another way. He’s also a programmer who develops apps and he uses his spare time to learn more about science.
“Last year I launched an app called Neutoni, which is a peer-to-peer app developed for high school learners to help each other with subjects they struggle with. I am also currently working on an app called cumthruu. It’s a confession site where people tell their stories and we post them.”
