his life-like portraits on Harrismith Road
Nineteen-year-old self-taught Steadville artist, Simingaye Mchunu, is making a huge artistic impression within the community of Ladysmith.
“He has an impeccable eye for detail and his work is faultless,” said one of the community members who asked Mchunu to draw a portrait of her family. Mchunu has found an inspiring spot along Harrismith Road and enjoys drawing portraits. “From a young age, I loved drawing cartoons and then later explored the possibilities of drawing portraits of people’s faces.” Mchunu told The Ladysmith Herald that all his skills and techniques are self-taught with many hours spent researching on the internet. “What I was taught there, I took and made it my own, with hours of practice, I have managed to develop my talents and have since then grown stronger in my drawing abilities.” Mchunu said that his personal favourites to work on are usually the faces of celebrities, especially former president, Nelson Mandela. “A person’s face and eyes are the windows to their soul and for me to capture it, that is the challenge I work for,” said Mchunu.
He said that he enjoys working from the sidewalk along Harrismith Road and it gives him the opportunity to watch people walking by. “I would sit along Murchison Street, but it had gotten too busy and too many people would stop and ask me about my work.” Mchunu hopes to one day open his own studio and display some of his best work. “But not in Ladysmith. As much as I love my home town and its people, the big city life such as Johannesburg and Cape Town is where I would like to see my work displayed.” If anyone is interested in seeing more of Mchunu’s work, he can be visited along Harrismith Road or on Facebook under the names ‘J-Bull art’ or ‘Art drawing by J-bull’. He can also be reached on 066-752-9728.
