Cape Town - Artist Heath Hlatshwayo recently trended on Twitter for his painting of internationally acclaimed DJ Black Coffee.
Speaking to DRUM about the recognition, he explains that art has always been his passion.
“I always knew that drawing would be the most important thing to me. I loved it ever since I was a child and I never had any other options,” he says.
After finishing high school, Heath studied art and design at the Dynamic Skills and Development College of South Africa in Pretoria where he honed his skills and learnt more about drawing and painting techniques.
Heath has over 10 000 followers on Twitter and is known for his realistic drawings and paintings of celebrities. His latest artwork, an oil painting of Black Coffee, has over 3 500 likes.
“It took me three months to complete because it’s an oil painting and I wanted it to be perfect – but I’m happy with the results,” Heath says.
“I decided to do a painting of [Black Coffee] because he inspires me. His journey and the amount of hard work he puts into everything he does is just so encouraging. Plus, I absolutely love his music. He’s a genius!”
Heath doesn’t just draw and paint any old celebrity, though, he creates works of people who inspire him, people whose journeys are unique and who work extra hard to achieve their goals.
Speaking of goals, Heath says that even though he receives a lot of love and support from people on Twitter, he still has more to achieve.
“I want to do 3D animations of relatable characters to inspire people – especially the younger generation.”
The artist also wants to give back to the community by hosting workshops that will teach children about art. “But that will be in the future. For now I need to work hard.”
Here are a few more of his beautiful artworks:
