With message ridden paintings
like The Drunkard, The Spirit of Tao Solarin, Foamy waves, among
others, Mr Oluyomi Taiwo Osunfisan, MD, Grafikat Advertising Ltd,
dazzles art lovers and art connoisseur in his Lekki office/showroom.
A veteran painter, he
practiced painting, a skill which he developed personally, for over a
decade before proceeding to Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) for studies on
the subject. What however makes him stand in the current
dispensation is his emphasis on innovation in art, quality and his
unflinching commitment to making art availability to Nigerians.
“I believe that every room
should be beautified with a painting. It makes the room look better and
the interesting things is that it does not necessarily have to be very
expensive” he says, as he enthusiastically points out the inspiration
behind the complex stoke of colours which characterizes a painting
hanging on the wall of his office. Through innovation in painting, he
believes that his goal of beautifying every home and office is
attainable.
What Mr Osunfisan is doing
differently is that he is using technology to make his classic paintings
accessible to a larger audience and at affordable prices. “Several
years ago, I visited the United States and found that the use of
computer does not affect the originality of a painting, in fact
computers can be used to repaint an existing work, and making it
available to a wider audience.”
Based on this discovery, Mr
Osunfisan underwent training in the United States and gained mastery of
the art of painting with computers. The outcome has been tremendous;
“his new method means that he can make copies of his old works and still
retain the original copies, while the computer generated copies, which
look exactly like the originals are made available for sale. He explains
that “inspiring works can now be shared more easily and each paining
can be produced at a cheaper rate while maintain its original
freshness”.
Mr Osunfisan wishes to
achieve two major things: “I want the younger generation to know that
they already have a tool that they can use for their art”. Also, he
says, “if painting always costs as much as N300, 000 to N100,000, how
can the younger generation or the middle class afford to buy?
In a country where more than
58 percent of the population live on less than a dollar daily and only
well-heeled individuals can afford paintings, Mr. Osunfisan believes
that he is bridging the gap in art appreciation . But there are those
who believe that computer based paintings are not original.
To them Mr. Osunfisan says,
“painting with computers has advanced to the extent that when a work is
completed, you get a perfect, finished job as if it was stamped on the
canvas even though the artist has not have gone through the traditional
four stages of colour mixing”.
In his specific case most of
what he offers are age long paintings which he did in the past. The
process involves getting a good photograph of the old work, scanning it
and then enhancing it graphically with advanced software built
specifically to handle such tasks. In the end, what comes out is an
exact replica of the original. They are then framed beautifully and can
compete side by side with regular painting.
Mr Osunfisan believes that
the level of art appreciation in Nigeria is low and needs to rise,
because art is part of what we are, and it is one of those things we
should enjoy every day, he believes that “it should not be the exclusive
preserve of the high and mighty.
But how tasking is the art of
painting with computers? The Septuagenarian explains that an artist is
always an artist, “both the traditional methods of painting and doing it
with computers are cumbersome” what really matters is how much effort
you put at perfecting what you do. He explains that “the output from the
computer is durable” and that is why he is even more interested in
sharing it with those who appreciate good paintings.
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