Adégòkè Adébánjo more popularly known to the art world as AdeArt, is a charcoal artist that specializes in realistic portraits and drawings. The twenty year old is staking his claim in the art world with realistic and elegant yet powerful drawings of celebrities as well as portraits inspired by his surroundings. The artist from Ogun is shaping the world around him
The very first time I was exposed to Adeart’s work was a drawing of one of my favorite media personalities; Elsa Majimbo. From that one piece of art, I could see the overflowing talent in his sketches. I’m very excited to be interviewing him for TheOWNMag, so let’s get down to it.
Ololade: Hi! Good Evening, this is Ololade,
ADEARTS: Hello, Good Evening
We exchange pleasantries and ask of each other’s well-being. I start to apologise for calling a bit later but he’s alright with it, tells me not to worry, he must be really understanding.
Ololade: I’d like this conversation to be very chill, you can be comfortable, so let’s get to it
ADEARTS: okay, no problem,
Ololade: First question, what is the story behind your name, did it just randomly come up with it or there’s more behind it?
ADEARTS: Okay, (short pause) it was actually my brother. So one time I was drawing ike cartoons, just random sketches, and I wasn’t really serious with the stuff, was just having fun, I don’t know when but I moved into more realistic drawings. My brother was looking at me sketch one day and was like, why not take this stuff serious, that I should create a name for myself…
Ololade: A name for the brand yeah?
ADEARTS: Yeah exactly, I told him I would and started trying to create more stuff and find a name. I started looking at my name, like my name yeah, all my name either relates to King or crown. My full name is Adégòkè Adébánjo Obafemi Ade, so I just decided to pick the Ade and merge it with Art
Olalade: That’s cool, that’s cool, it’s simple, gets the message around. That’s nice. So who is your biggest inspiration in Art? Like what turned this your hobby into a full time thing for you?
ADEARTS: okay, there’s this guy, my boss. It’s funny how I met him. I was in Jss3, so me and my classmates, we’d go to the library to read and so stuffs together, there was this particular guy, he knew I could draw so he introduced me to his elder brother was at Yaba Tech then. I started following him on Facebook and admired his works. I saw very realistic drawings, I was like dope, so they’re drawings that are this real. When I followed him on I facebook, I was introduced to a whole lot of people that inspired me. He became my mentor, that’s the earliest inspiration I can trace back to.
Ololade: alright, that’s quite a story. Are there other people in the art scene that you look up too?
ADEARTS: oh wow! They are a lot.
Ololade: okay, just give the ones you can remember right now.
ADEARTS: I have a lot, let me see, Kevin OKafor, Arinze Stanley, uhm who else yes, Israel HeavenlyArts
Ololade: Are they all realistic artists, like do they all do the same kind of art you do? Or are there varieties?
ADEARTS: Yes, like all three of them I just said now, they’re in line with my art style, realism. But I have other ones that are not doing my type of art, but you know you can be inspired by different art forms like Ken Nwadiogbu inspires me a lot with his unique contemporary style. And finally Jean-Michel Basquiat, he is the guy on my twitter and instagram profile pictures, I really admire him.
Ololade: wow, okay. So let us steer away from your art a bit, to get to know you. What’s one interesting thing about yourself that you’d like us to know
ADEARTS: something about myself?
Ololade: anything, really
ADEARTS: okay, I play instruments, I’m an instrumentalist
Ololade: oh that’s new, first time I’m hearing
ADEARTS: I play the drums, the guitar, I’m learning that from my elder brother, he’s a guitarist. Basically I love doing anything that works my brain, tests my limits, you get?
Ololade: I get, I get, that means you’re a book reader?
ADEARTS: yeah I do
Ololade: what’s your fave book? Is it fiction or non fiction ?
ADEARTS: I read books but Omo it’s been long… I’ll come back to that, is it cool ?
Ololade: yeah sure, let’s move on. So how have you been able to balance your work life and life as an artist? Or is drawing a full time job?
ADEARTS: how I manage to balance both worlds yeah? I have a way of scheduling everything I do each day, so I could wake up set alarms for my daily schedules, also set time for art like four hours in the morning and another four in the evening
Ololade: wow! That’s some serious work ethic
ADEARTS: then in between those times I manage to squeeze out time to work out, eat, you know other things
Ololade: okay, okay. So what’s the longest time it you’ve used to draw a piece
ADEARTS: in a day yeah?
Ololade: yeah in a day
ADEARTS: like about 12 hours
Ololade: WOW!!(exclaims) 12 whole hours! And a complete artwork takes like how long to complete
ADEARTS: uhm, it depends, the longest it took me to complete an artwork was 7 months and that’s because I had previously abandoned it and took it up again
Ololade: that’s a lot of time and dedication, but for like an artwork for a client, how long do you usually take
ADEARTS: usually that takes about 2-3weeks
Ololade: alright that’s cool. What are the bad sides of making arts, like the challenges that no one really talks about
ADEARTS: ah money (laughs), people watch art shows, exhibitions or auctions and they’ll think or they’ll look at the money that artists are making and be like this thing is easy, you just make art and sell. But the thing is, as an artist is that first if you want to do art don’t put your mind on the money, just do your thing first, cause if you’re looking for money you’ll be disappointed, you’ll be disappointed hmm, it’s just something that will come when your not even you understand, when you’re not even expecting. It’s not something you’d just start and start getting recognition and money, people wouldn’t even be fucking with you, you just have to start and keep going. You would even be spending your own money and sweat, most of the time the money won’t come when you’re expecting it, you just have to be patient
Ololade: true, true. So what motivates you to create ?
ADEARTS: a lot of things, a lot of things like I could just wake up and the first song I heard that moment and I hear some key words or lyrics, even as we’re talking like this you could say something that will inspire a work , so it’s just there already, everything is there already, it’s just for me to pay attention…
Ololade: and bring it to life
ADEARTS: yes exactly
Ololade: so do you have a favorite piece, like from the ones you’ve made?
ADEARTS: okay, favorite art piece? Well the next art I’ll be drawing
Ololade: so we should be expecting something huge??
ADEARTS: yes and I also meant that it’s always the next piece that I’m drawing that’s my favorite
Ololade: oh okay wow
ADERARTS: because I’m always trying to be better
Ololade: the last question then, how do you define success? Like as an artist and for you how would you define success
ADEARTS: hmm success, success to me, you know success is subjective, so success to me and to success to you would not be the same but for me sha success is when you are able to look back and see that you inspire people or see they’re people looking up to you or trying to follow your path? that’s success to me
Ololade: sorry but last one again, how I found out about you was through Elsa Majimbo, she’s one of my fav content creators, and I saw when she displayed and art, your art, a portrait of her, so how did it feel, the recognition and then seeing your art being displayed to thousands of people. How did that impact your brand and your yourself?
ADEARTS: yeah yeah, it inspires me to do more work, cause I feel like this thing I’m doing they’re people out there that appreciate it, so it inspires me to do more to create more beautiful art, yeah
Ololade: alright. Thank you so much! I’d be expecting more from you, Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, have a lovely day!
ADEARTS: thank you.
Ololade: BYE!
ADEARTS: BYE!