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A charcoal drawing of a dense, black curved shape on a white background. The form has a soft, textured edge and a deep, saturated centre.

Photograph or pencil drawing?! How Kevin Okafor made "Mana"

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Date
4 February 2013

You may have seen 27 year old Kevin Okafor on the news last week, displaying his hyper-real pencil drawings and discussing how people often mistake it for black and white photography. On his fascinating blog, Kevin shows us step-by-step images of how he creates these frankly mind-boggling precision portraits. The level of accuracy and detail is mesmerising, and has sparked debate over whether something so close to photography can actually be described as art. Kevin’s portraits of famous musicians have most certainly caught the eye of the public, but it is his intimate portraits of friends such as Mana that are the standout pieces.

A pencil sketch of a person’s face, showing the eyes and the outline of their hair. A hand holds a pencil, adding dark shading to a section of the hair.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A close-up of a hand using a black charcoal stick to shade a drawing. A large, dark curved shape is being filled in next to a faint pencil sketch of a face.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A person uses a black marker to fill in the hair of a pencil sketch. The drawing shows a face in profile, with the hair rendered as a solid black shape.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A pencil sketch of a person’s face, where only a section of dark hair is fully shaded. The rest of the features are rendered in light, unfinished outlines.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A charcoal drawing of a person’s head in profile, focusing on a thick, black block of hair. Faint pencil outlines of the face and neck are visible against the white paper.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A pencil drawing of a single eye looking forward. Above the eye, a thick fringe of dark hair is rendered with dense, vertical lines.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A close-up drawing of a person’s face, focusing on a single detailed eye and dark, blunt-cut bangs. A hand holds a pencil, adding fine lines to the sketch.
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KeviKevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A graphite drawing of a person’s nose and mouth. The features are softly shaded, with a deep shadow defining the opening of the nostril and the curve of the upper lip.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A close-up of a realistic pencil drawing of a person’s nose and lips. A hand holds a blending stump to the bottom lip, refining the shading.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A detailed charcoal drawing of a person with a blunt fringe and dark hair. A hand holds a pencil at the bottom of the frame, adding a final touch to the lips.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A black and white close-up of a person’s face, focusing on their nose and lips. A hand holds a white pen, poised to draw on the edge of the person's dark hair.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A pencil drawing of a person’s back and neck, viewed from behind. Long, dark hair falls down their back, partially obscuring a detailed sketch of a spinal column.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

A black and white portrait of a person with long dark hair and a blunt fringe. They look towards the camera with a neutral expression against a plain, light background.
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Kevin Okafor: Mana, evolution

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About the Author

Liv Siddall

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Liv joined It’s Nice That as an intern in 2011 and worked across online, print and events, and was latterly Features Editor before leaving in May 2015.

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