Pencils and dreams: Inspiring story of Antony's artistic journey

Drawing enables us to perceive the world differently, fostering a deeper love for its subtle details through attentiveness and appreciation.

For Antony Odhiambo, a 25-year-old known by many as “Toni works for Art”, art has always been his way of life.

Antony started drawing at the age of nine when his primary teacher discovered him and his friend Michael and coached them.

“I started art at primary whereby there was a teacher who used to coach me and my friend Michael, we would draw diagrams then he would mark them that was basically at around Std 3. Through primary school I used to draw maps then I elevated to drawing my classmates’ portraits and everything that could be drawn,” narrated Odhiambo.

Despite switching schools in primary and later joining high school, his passion for art kept on growing.

It was while he was in high school that he met another artist and together they mastered pen art and learned calligraphy until he later joined the university.

In 2016 Odhiambo turned art into a professional career.

“In 2016, I started pursuing art as a profession. I met a fellow artist on Facebook and he started coaching me virtually. I would draw and send it to him, he would correct my drawing and from there that’s where I leaned on art,” he said.

Just like Georgia O’Keeffe said, to create one’s own world takes courage, Antony took the initiative to draw some of the public figures in Kenya who noticed his work.

Odhiambo has engaged Andrew Kibe, Octopizzo, and Dennis Ombachi on X social media about his work, and is currently working on meeting Ombachi.

Odhiambo emphasized that one must navigate the market while maintaining his interest in achieving success and achieving success in the stars.

“The biggest challenge is always about understanding the market because I have to understand the market, know what the market needs and at the same time I have to make pieces of a representation of what I believe or want to draw,” said Odhiambo.

“The financial implications that come with art is that, if I have a limited budget I am limited to a given area, so my portfolio also will not be quite broad, I am not able to try out other mediums of art. Come to think of it at the moment, in the art industry you have to be all over the media, you have to keep up with the new trends and everything out there.” 

Anthony aims and aspires to showcase his art in international galleries with legendary artists, establishing networks and creating pieces for high-end museums in France, London, and the United States.