Nigerian street artist Ahmed Sulaiman’s work has gone viral on the internet for sketching realistic portraits in under five minutes.
The talented artist was discovered by Sulayman Abu-bakr, a program analyst of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency. He said he was stopped by Sulaiman and impressed by his God-given talent to speed-draw with precision.
“Saw this random dude outside my office and he offered to draw me under 5mins.
His name is Ahmed,” Abu-bakr tweeted.
Saw this random dude outside my office and he offered to draw me under 5mins.
His name is Ahmed. pic.twitter.com/hCiZQnmKIW— Sulayman Abu-bakr (@NupeMufasa) March 7, 2018
The 44-year-old’s portraits have received over 43,000 retweets and the internet is praising Sulaiman for his work.
Abu-bakr later tweeted and said he “invited him back to the office today to hear his story and I showed him your comments.”
The analyst expressed that Sulaiman is grateful for everyone’s comments. “He’s so happy his work is getting recognized all over… he was so excited. He’s hoping to set up a studio in the near future.”
Abu-bakr has since arranged a GoFundMe account for the artist to get him a studio, drawing materials for his craft, and a place to stay. The campaign has so far raised over $4,450.
A social media user by the name of Ahmed EJ proposed building a website for Sulaiman free of charge. Others offered to help with writing content and producing an e-commerce software for the website that way Sulaiman is able to sell his artwork and make money. People have even set up his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Sulaiman told Abu-bakr that “his wife is late, he has a family in Kaduna but squatting with a friend in Abuja and he would like to own a studio some day.”
We’ll be sure to keep track of his success and share updates with everyone. See his beautiful work below.
Earlier today..
Ahmed got me 💪🏿. pic.twitter.com/6kKIPfU520— Sulayman Abu-bakr (@NupeMufasa) March 9, 2018
He is really talented, sketched @mstphly pic.twitter.com/amVyAMef2m
— Faisal (@mr_phaisal) March 7, 2018
Met him in 2015, he drew about 6 people in my office. He’s a Genius pic.twitter.com/5YYkwBmoSw
— Ahmed S B (@Ahmedsaleem) March 8, 2018
