11/08/2026
… Picking on from where we stopped yesterday.
A 20 naira pencil.
A textbook cover.
And a pandemic.
That's how I came back to art.
Not with expensive materials, or a studio.
Just me, the cheapest pencil I could find, and inspiration from artworks I had seen online during COVID lockdown.
I have always drawn since primary school and secondary school.
But university quietly swallowed that part of me.
Assignment and test deadlines.
Lectures.
Exams.
And before I knew it, drawing became something I "used to do."
Until COVID forced everyone to slow down. And in that stillness, I found myself again.
I picked up that 20 naira pencil and started drawing. And it felt like coming home.
But the real turning point came during NYSC in 2023.
I joined a 10 day art challenge by the Art Lectures Community pioneered by the Art Coach Ebenezer Ekwu, while I learned with other artists. I put my heart and soul into it and was able to make it to the end. Against many other talented aritists.
The prize was a huge amount 5,000 naira back then which I immediately invested it back into art materials Because that's what people who are serious about their craft do.
They reinvest in the gift.
That challenge didn't just give me 5k.
It gave me confidence.
It showed me, "This is real. Keep going."
From a 20 naira pencil and a textbook cover to winning art challenges and teaching others how to create.
That's consistency showing up for itself.
What's the smallest, most humble beginning you started something great from? 👇
Still yours Oluwapelumi Richard
Sceptre's Art
