Every artist’s dream is to master their craft and blow every one’s mind away with it, and Walter has successfully blown our minds with the level of skill and precision in his pencil drawing art. He doesn’t waste a pixel, and his goal; to express the unseen beauty of black people. In my conversation with him, he talks about how these spotless drawings actually take him days, and sometimes weeks to finish.
Kamanzi Walter is a Ugandan by birth, he realized he could actually draw while he was still 8 years old. His simple yet exceptional drawings could easily be told from those of other kids in his class.
With continuous practice he gradually improved his art but continued to take it for granted.
Something special happened in Primary 4 at Seeta Parents Primary School, although he had known he could draw, around that time, he realized that his fingers worked up a better picture than most of his class mates.
“As long as I can remember, my passion for drawing never dropped at any stage,” he says “I was into drawing cartoons and illustrations for most of my secondary life until I mastered human figure in my form six at Holy Cross SS in Jinja.”
As I talk with Walter, I realize that talent and skill are different, and it takes someone that has both to rise above the occasion. When did you decide to specialize in this form of art? I ask.
“My passion for drawing faces compounded in my form 6 with a friend called Daniel, an amazing artist with whom we practiced and mastered the art of realism. I did a lot of practice mainly from YouTube and random inspiration from Instagram artists like Kelvin Okafor and Arinze. They really pushed me to reach my limits to a point that I started inspiring so many young artists out there myself who constantly reach out to me.” Walter responds.
If you are left wondering how many hours go into his detailed pencil drawings, he says it’s not even a matter of hours but days. “Most of my portraits range in sizes of A1 to A4 that take different rounds of hours and days. A simple portrait could take 2 to 4 days while most of my high personal detailed portraits take almost 3 to 4 weeks of drawing.”
Ever heard of the fact that drawing a nose can be quite complicated, ask any artist and they will tell you how dreary it is, yet not for him, in fact Walter laughs it off saying “Noses, eyes, and lips are very easy for me.” What Walter finds complex in his portraiture work is “creating perfect skin textures and patterns ranging from old wrinkled textures to the young faces. But with patience and time, all has been mastered well”
On why most of his work is human portraits and faces, and why he is drawn to this subject, this is what he had to say “I am drawn to drawing facial portraits because I believe a face defines a person, their character and emotions. It’s a very breath-taking process to generate an image from nothing and the results are usually mind-blowing ranging from the hair flows, skins textures and cloth fabrics.” He adds “My art is less political and more devoted to expressing emotions and the unseen beauty of black people.”
Talent Vs Hard work
“I think talent and hard work go hand in hand because without consistent hard work and practice, any artist could lose value in their works. Creativity can be taught but only those that have the love and passion for it actually get through with it.”
Prices and Contacts
My Artworks range from 150,000shs to 800,000shs depending on sizes. They are well packaged and framed. I also do deliveries for my clients around town and near Kampala. You can also find my creations on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @walter_kam1 and the hashtag #walterart. For calls and WhatsApp contact me on 0758102628, 0772325777.
satisfashionug@gmail.com
