Kevin Hart
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
March 30, 2022 ·  3 min read

Stunned By Artist’s Portrait Of Him, Kevin Hart Buys Work And Supports Him In Amazing Gesture

It is not often that we get to meet our celebrity heroes. However, thanks to social media, it has become a much more common occurrence. One example is Eli Waduba Yusuf, a Nigerian artist. Back in 2019, Eli had posted a fantastic sketch of Kevin Hart, one of his heroes. Amazingly, it did reach Hart, and his response has completely changed the youngster’s life.

The Start Of Eli’s Interaction With Kevin Hart

In his original post, Yusuf introduced himself as “a hyperrealism pencil artist”. He hails from Nigeria’s Kaduna. Hyper-realism is a type of art where real-life objects are depicted as a sketch using graphite and pencil.

While talking to ABCNews, Yusuf had said that Hart was his favorite comedian. This drawing was his gift and his way of conveying his feelings of gratitude to Hart.

He had hoped that fellow Twitter users would retweet his work till it reached Kevin Hart. Here is his original tweet:

And Twitter users obliged the youngster’s request. In fact, when Kevin Hart saw the artwork he was so impressed that he immediately wanted to buy it. He even offered more work to Eli, according to his tweet:

Kevin’s reply then gave another burst of life to Eli’s impressive artwork. It received more than 426K likes. Needless to say, Yusuf could hardly believe what he saw. While speaking to BBC, he said that Hart’s reply blew his mind, and that “it was like a dream”.

Read: ‘I Used AI To See What These 23 Popular Cartoon Characters Would Look Like In Real Life’

How Eli’s Life Changed Ever Since

Yusuf then went to speak on the changes that took place a short while after that interaction with Kevin Hart. He explained that, before that tweet, he was no more than a local artist who wished to share his work with the world. He had no idea something like this would occur suddenly.

One of Eli's artworks.
Image Credits: Eli Waduba Yusuf | Instagram

Eli thanks his mother for her support for Eli’s dream, even though she never received a proper education. His inspiration was Azine Stanley, a Nigerian engineer, activist, photographer, and artist. Stanley’s best-known pieces are his hyper-realistic arts using pencils.

For Eli, Stanley showed him art’s possibilities. It made him decide to reproduce everything he sees and make them look better. Ever since he finds new ways to improve each day and in each new piece of art. Eli says, he makes sure “each of my new work is always better than my previous one.

Stanely has also seen Yusuf’s work and was extremely appreciative of it. He felt blessed because his work inspired a person, and promised to give his help to Yusuf.

On the other hand, Eli is waiting and guessing what Kevin Hart’s order commission might be. One celebrity seems to be a popular guess, and that is Dwayne “the rock” Johnson. His friendship with Kevin Hart is well-known. However, Yusuf is simply waiting for Kevin’s decision.

You can check out more of Eli Waduba Yusuf’s amazing work on his Instagram and Website

Keep Reading: This Artist Creates “Henna Crowns” for Women with Cancer and Alopecia

Sources

  1. Kevin Hart sketch by Nigerian artist goes viral, gets attention of comedian.” ABC News. Christina Carrega. February 28, 2019.
  2. How a Nigerian artist’s tweet caught the eye of Kevin Hart.” BBC. Andree Massiah. March 1, 2019.