 Once again, a very good entrepreneurship Tuesday morning to you. My name is Hilda Wadidhi and you are watching Why In The Morning, your favorite breakfast show. We do this between Mondays and Fridays between 7 and 10 o'clock in the morning. Do make sure you participate in the conversation and I hope you did catch that interview with Barry Moses and Jocelyn. And now you know if you're a lady out there, do your eyebrows fast. Pay more attention when you begin your day. So speaking of beginning our day, we have an artist here with us, our final interview of the day. He goes by the name of Samuel Kenyua from Pencil Arts Sam. Yes, and he'll say good morning to you. It's his first time here. And before we get to how talented he is with his pencil, I think the Manchester United fans, it's about time we acknowledge a gentleman who is right next to me, goes by the name of Anthony Marshall. So Anthony Marshall, here you are. So all of you are crashing on the, and all the Manu fans that are mourning. Don't worry, the Pencil Artist today came with a picture for your casket. All right, anyway. So it's about time Sam says good morning to the people. Say good morning to the Y254 family. Good morning, guys. I'm Samuel Kenyua. So known as Pencil Arts Sam. I'm a portrait artist, as you can see. Yes. Yeah, this is what I major in, Pencil Arts. Though I do other kind of arts, but this is what I major in. Okay, fantastic. It's good to have you in the studio with us today, Samuel. Thank you. If you do want to participate in the conversation at Y254 channel on Twitter, the hashtag is one in the morning. Hashtag is up in Washington Tuesday on Facebook, Y254. Just in case you forgot, channel 376 on YouTube. Oh, sorry, on DSTV. Eh, goodness. Correction, channel 376 on DSTV. Sorry. Okay, so Samuel, let's talk a little bit about how you, how did you discover you wanted to do this? And what was it about the pencil and the color pencil that caught your attention out of all the other arts you could do? Why this one? Okay, so I discovered I have a talent when I was very young. So my mom had been very supportive when she discovered that I had it. She had to support it. Everyone in my family have supported this talent, I can say that. So when I finished high school, 2016, I decided to join in the pencil work because it's what I saw most guys doing. I didn't know about other arts at all. Oh, okay. So this is what I started with. But like I've said, I'm doing other arts right now, like paintings, I customize shoes. You know which my heels just broke right now in my studio. Anyway, we'll talk about that later. Yeah, I don't fix that. I can't draw Tom and Jerry there. But you can draw Tom and Jerry on my heels to replace you. Okay, I like that. But I'm just starting on that. Yeah. Oh, that's more or less what you've diversified into since you started with the pencils. And finally, I remember when we were younger, we used to use a lot of coloring. They did start with coloring because I can see this coloring here as well. Of course. They did start with coloring and which was what was your first color pencil board like? I can remember the ones that were called Crayola. I don't know. You didn't tell us about your first colored pencil dock. Okay, I think it was Crayola. It was Crayola. But professionally, a pelican colored pencil and it's what I'm still using even now. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about how long have you been doing this? By the way, speaking of which how long have you been doing this? Since 2017. 2017. Professionally. Yeah. How do you come about? Who do you want to draw? How do you decide? Where do you get your, where do you draw your inspiration from rather? From many things, but mostly what is trending? You like to draw what's trending or people that are trending. Yeah. So many just say, oh, no, I had drawn it earlier when Marshal scored a goal and he trained it a lot. Yeah, but also this is actually a celebration, not for the caskets. Yeah, I'm a man united fan. We are proud. So you actually like to draw pictures of people and things that are trending? Yeah, but also I have a project called Happy Africa. Happy Africa. Yeah. You know, most artists will draw Africans, but with their surfaces crying and, you know, our artists being viewed worldwide. So I had to show them that we have like happy things in Africa that so like I draw some happy kid or someone smiling to show just to bring out a point. Yeah. So you want to spread the message that there's happiness in Africa? Yeah, exactly. That's all this miserable that images of us is not exactly the truth. Yeah, we still have some happiness. Okay, I like that. So how do you manage to make them look so realistic? What are some of the styles and techniques you can let someone at home know that they can, because this actually looks like almost exactly how it is. How do you make it so realistic and this is 2D? Concentration. I can say it takes passion, a lot of practice and patience for you to come up with something like that. You know, most upcoming artists want to start drawing today and perfect tomorrow. It can't be possible. You have to be patient. Practice is very important. Like the year 2017, I used to draw daily. I had to make sure I've drawn something. How many images were you drawing in a day, roughly? When I was a beginner, maybe two. But daily? Yeah, like even when I'm busy, I had to make sure I've drawn something for that day. So you had to make sure that you keep practicing and practicing and practicing and practicing. Exactly. So how long does it take you now to do an image, like an image that's clear or like the word right next to you of Rihanna? How long does it take you to complete a sketch like that? Or how many sketches do you even do? How many sketches do you do before you finally decide on which is which? Okay, so as you advance, you'll realize that you need to focus more on details, so it will take you even longer. But it's a matter of hours. Like Rihanna's image here, I used like four hours on it. Four hours. Whooping. Yeah. You even cut the makeup right in the eyebrows and everything correct. Wow. So you guys can actually also be makeup artists in another life. Okay. Most girls will take to me asking if I can do their eyebrows. They actually ask you. I like that, but it also caught my attention. It's very well done. It takes some particular skill to draw people's eyebrows and even to draw the eyebrows. But let's talk about the fragilness of your work. Your work is very fragile in terms of it can easily be manipulated or destroyed. Like if I come with a red Byron, it just looks, I've destroyed it. So what do you usually do to protect your art and even when you sell it to make sure that it's always in good quality that the paper doesn't just start to meet, what do you do to make it look good for long? You have to start by using quality materials. Like the paper ivoryboard. It's very, it's hard. The ivoryboard paper, there's a paper like for ivoryboard. Is that what you say? It's called ivoryboard, but it's a paper. Oh. Yeah. It's hard. Like the frames are of high quality as you can see. So that's what those are my measures to make sure the art stays long. So let's, so take us through. You said that you draw two images daily when you started out. Take us through your day. What do you do from morning to evening as a pencil artist? Is it your sole source of income as far now? Yeah. Then you can take us through your day. Okay. First of all, I sleep less hours. Like I can sleep three, four hours. Only? Yeah. Okay. You can see my eyes. I cannot tell. Don't worry. So when I wake up, of course, I have to like prepare like a normal person. But drawing is something that is just in me. Like I will be doing something else, but still the artist there, like maybe I'm cooking something after I know I can be a palanime, shed kiasi. Yeah. That's what I do mostly. Like I can draw the whole day. So basically this pencil art is just an extension of you. Okay. Most people say I'm addicted to it, though soon of me personally. You are addicted to your business? Yeah. I'm still lucky. Because like even if there's a visitor, they can come in the house and find me. But I want to draw my attention from the art totally. We can still have a conversation as I draw. Interesting. So you basically just leave breathe art as well, even as you're doing your other activities. So let's talk about some of the works that you have done. I think we can have them on the screen now. We can have a look at pencil art. Here's your Instagram page. So let's scroll down. Let's have a look at some of the people you've drawn and oh, wow. I can see Burali. Yeah. I finished that artwork yesterday. Yesterday? Yeah. At around 7pm. I can see you explore different lighting. Your lighting looks different almost. You capture a lot of lighting in your sketches because I can see there's Burali's picture over there. Please let us know. What's the difference between the lighting I'm seeing in Burali's picture and the one I'm seeing on Joi Mudenghi's art? Okay. Joi Mudenghi's art. It's actually a colored art as you can see it. Yes. Okay. I used Pelican colored pencils. But Burali's art, I used Thedlas and the black color in Pelican colored pencils. Wow. Yeah. That's the difference. It actually looks like a really old picture. Before you notice a dispensary light, it might take some time. Yeah. I can see women trying to draw. How do you capture the complexions? Because I've seen a white person and I can see the African. I can see Wangari Matai. And I've seen a white person. Who is that? Who is that? I just don't know. I'm Manchester United's coach. Yes. I just knew him to a football and your man has to do it. I knew coach. Yeah. You capture different complexions in your drawings. Okay. And skin tones. Let me try to explain. Like when I look at you as just Sam, I see me a beautiful girl. But as pencil at Sam, I see different shades. Like So you might catch me staring at you and you judge me. But I'm actually wondering what if I was drawing. That's why I'm telling you I'm a detail to her. That's why. Is that the excuse that you're not staring at me point? Okay. I don't explain it to them. But that's what it is in my mind. So you take some time to study a subject and see what you can do when it comes to lighting. So you basically take a mental picture. Yeah. More or less. I can see something. Wow. I can see something you've done interesting here with someone's hair. Hair color. Yeah. Oh, there's a smell. What's happening here? How did you achieve this? Because I can see her hair is colored by the images in black and white. What technique is this? Mixed media. It's more creative. Most people like it. Mostly the hair, the lipstick, and the clothes. I can put them in color, but the rest of the skin in black and white. So what message does your work aim to send? What message do you aim to send? When you've studied me and you've seen me and I'm going to draw this girl, what would you expect me to feel and what is it you expect of your clients, basically? Okay. First of all, if you're a client, I like to leave you fully satisfied. Fully satisfied? Yeah. From the scratch, the stencil to the frame, everything. Okay. If I'm just drawing you like a fan, I expect you to love it totally. Okay. So most of these celebs I draw, you will find them sharing it. And that shows how much they appreciate it. You know, it's not always about the money. It's about how that person sees your art, how it makes them feel. Because you're drawing it to appreciate them, like celebs. So yeah, just sharing from them is enough. So this is also a marketing strategy on your end, yes? Yeah. So how sustainable is this? You know that you're a pencil artist and that's your sole source of income. How sustainable is it? Is it something that is putting food on the table for everybody? What challenges are you going through? For you to start earning from art, you first have to make your name big, famous. Make your name big, be visible. How? You need to be well known. Like you might walk into some shops, friend shops, family. I leave these portraits there. So that's my other marketing strategy. So like when people see it, they want like that one. So yeah, and the challenges, okay, there's been a lot of people stealing our soft copies. Oh, you guys are fixing theft? Yeah, soft copies. Like you'll post it. Now it's your squeeze where I advance. So you'll post it. A guy will take it, go post it on their timeline and even post their number. And you will scroll in the comments section and see they got some clients, but they deliver something else. You can post my art because obviously if you post my art as yours, it means mine is better. Yes. So you'll post it, the client will love it. Then when he or she commissions an art, you'll deliver something different and they won't be satisfied. So on a back nailer expression, these people, what they post, you know, what they deliver. Okay. So what are you guys doing about that? Or what would you expect the authorities to do about something like that? For now, you just screenshot it, make your fans aware. People will share. And it works actually. When I screenshot someone who has stolen my art and post it, people will share. It will create awareness and you will find them even deleting their account. Because now they've been caught with their hands down. Okay. So let's talk about the high moments. The high moments. What is the most expensive piece you have ever sold, whether it was a celebrity and who was it? And which one is your favorite one? Let me just hold Anthony Marshall for the sake of Manchester United fans. Okay. Can't say the most expensive I've sold. How do you then price them? Is it more expensive when it's colored? No. It's more expensive when it's bigger and the number of faces in it. Like that's an A4, it's an A3. So if it's just this one face, you might get it at 3000 framed. Two faces, you might get it at 5000. It goes like that. Interesting. So you've still not told me the most expensive one. And how many faces did that one have and how big was it? Okay. Now that those are determining patterns. I haven't sold one with big faces. But like Wangari mother is at, they are two of them, if you have viewed them. Yes. They were both bought by one guy. Wow. Someone bought both of Wangari mother is the way it is. One was a bit bigger and four, five K each. Sold a few pieces, by the way. Wow. What inspired you to draw Wangari mother by the way? The first art I did for Wangari mother. Why did Wangari mother cross your mind that you decided you want to? I love nature, personally. You're a lover of the environment. Yeah. Even like hanging out these trees, I prefer those places over some tall buildings. So since she was also a lover of nature, decided just to appreciate you. You decided to appreciate her and someone decided to appreciate you. Interesting. So for someone at home who is looking into getting into this particular line of work, what kind of advice do you have for them aside from exposing thieves? What other advice do you have for them as well? Okay. Put God first. Then as I have said, have passion, practice and patience. You'll get yourself where you want. You can't be me, but you can be the best of you. I like that. You can be someone else, but you can be the best version of yourself. Wow. Okay. So for someone at home who is watching, I think it's about time we conclude the segments that are by Moses and I can come back and say goodbye to you properly. We have five online businesses that you need to start while in the year 2019, but it's about time we say goodbye to one Sam Kenywa. Where can they find you on social media? On Instagram, Pencil at Sam, Facebook, Pencil at Sam, my Facebook page, Pencil at Sam, Twitter, Pencil at Sam. Yeah. Thank you so much for coming to Studio Today. We look forward to seeing some of your work. Please draw me. Thank you. I will. All right. Please be my teacher publicly. Okay. So thank you very much. Please don't go anywhere, but Moses and I are coming right back.