Transcend

TRANSCEND Let me take you back to when I left secondary school. I was the best graduating student in visual art, not just the best in my set but I was the best in the whole school. I was so good that sometimes people compared my drawings to that of my Art teacher’s. I left high school having that ideal of being the best artist. It gave me a sense of meaning, and I was willing to do whatever it takes to maintain that title, but that was going to change soon… 4 months in after leaving high school, a friend of mine from school showed me a WhatsApp group where most artists across Nigeria were hanging out and sharing their artworks. This group was crazy, It had all levels of Artists - you would find the beginners, the average artist and of course the big chiefs, the professionals. I entered this group wanting to flex my talents and show everyone I was a professional (as I thought tho), until I got to see unbelievable Artworks created by human beings I had to use the word ‘human beings’ because at first site of the Artworks you might think they were all printed out by a machine and not drawn. Flexing my talent was out of the question at this point. Reality surely checked me and I knew I was at the beginners level of the group It was really painful to acknowledge that, at first site of things my one true meaning in life gets thrown out the window. But that wasn’t as bad as to what was about to happen next. I conjured up the courage to send a picture of one of my best drawings, I sent it and everybody laughed. Damn that hurt so bad, up to that point I was glorified and praised for my talent in secondary school but entering that group or you could say the real world I was laughed at and I could still remember someone calling my drawings ‘Cancer’. That was when everything changed and this became Jelfie’s ‘Transcend’ into a professional artist. This was what I did next. I stopped drawing completely, I spent the next 2 months, day and night looking at artists drawing in the group studying them. I was on YouTube watching drawing tutorials, I listened to the lessons and tips the professionals were giving other artists in the group. I did everything to get it right. Time passed and my friend who brought me into the group offered me a picture to draw so I make him proud. He said he knew I could climb up being a professional artist in the group. That motivation was all I needed to implement all have learnt the past 2 months. So I took the picture, picked up my biro and spent the next 2 and half months drawing. I didn’t care how long it took me I just wanted to get it right! l finished the drawing and couldn’t believe what I was seeing, it was so real! It gave me the same feeling as I first joined the group ‘this doesn’t look like what a human being drew’. I was damn happy man, I sent this drawing to the group with a ‘haha look who’s laughing now’ demeanor. Everyone was so amazed. Even Professional artist in the group all gave me a big well done saying this is a professional Art piece, I climbed up the hierarchy immediately. This drawing spent months on my desk, I didn’t want to sell it, in fact I don’t want to sell it (physical piece), It made me so happy each time I looked at it, it was a reminder of my Transcend. I can still remember when I wanted to go to bed I would take a big glance at the drawing then go sleep, because it made me feel good. This drawing means a lot to me. It holds a significant period in my life that I had a huge upgrade to becoming a professional Artist and I’m going to hang this in my home till I grow old.