"Àkóbí (The Firstborn)" Drawing

Sulaimon Wasiu Akande is a Nigeria contemporary artists
He was born and raised in Oyo State Oyo town Nigeria. He attended Emmanuel Alayande College of Education Oyo where he studied Fine and applied arts. Between 2014 to 2017


My journey into art has always been deeply personal. Over the years, artists have used many shading techniques such as blurring, hatching, cross-hatching, pointillism, and the use of signs and symbols. However, in my own artistic practice, I developed a unique shading technique that has become a signature part of my work.
This journey began around 2017, during a very challenging time in my life. I had a serious problem with my eyes and had to undergo eye surgery. After the operation, my doctor advised me to stay indoors for several months so my eyes could heal properly. I spent about four to six months at home recovering.
During that time, life became very difficult. The doctor instructed me not to eat anything hot, so I had to rely mostly on water and soft drinks. I could not pray the way I normally did, and even simple daily activities became challenging. Whenever I wanted to use the toilet, I had to carefully raise my eyes upward. Sleeping was uncomfortable, and I could hardly do anything the way I used to. Those months were physically and emotionally difficult for me.
At that time, I was living with two talented artists who were both my colleagues and mentors: Afolabi Oluwafemi and Akamwun Gabriel Oluwafemi. We stayed in the same room, ate together, worked together, and shared our artistic experiences. Today they are respected artists, and I learned a lot from being around them.
Whenever they left for work, I would remain at home alone because of my condition. As someone who deeply loves art, I could not stay without creating. I began making simple pen scribbles on paper just to keep myself connected to art.
During those quiet moments of experimentation, I accidentally discovered a particular shading technique. At first, it was just a repeated motion of shading with my pen. But when I noticed that the texture and patterns were becoming interesting, I continued doing it again and again. Over time, the technique started to make more sense to me, and it gradually became a natural part of my artistic expression.

Apart from making figurative artworks, I also began creating abstract drawings using this same shading technique. Most of these abstract works were done on cards or paper.