TAKE 5:Jeffrey Otieno

Jeffrey Otieno is a freelance illustrator and visual artist at ProKraft Africa.

He has a B.A degree in Design from University of Nairobi (graduated in 2014), with a special focus on illustration. Discovering his love for the arts at a ver young age enabled him to blossom into the career he has today, as well as his love for wildlife.

He enjoys creating caricatures of people because it makes them smile and laugh, and uses his art to communicate, express raw emotion and connect with people in ways words alone cannot. “Illustration has no boundaries in terms of expression and breaking ‘reality’ rules,” he says. 

1. Many artists don’t go to school for their craft, usually because they are forced into doing something else. Were your parents cool with your degree choice? Do you think having it helped you?

They were hesitant at first but they let me do what I was passionate about and I’m grateful for that. Today they are still very supportive of what I do.

The degree helped me narrow down to exactly what I wanted to major in as I got to understand the different disciplines of design and what they entail. I also learnt how to approach projects and design fundamentals, among other skills. 

2. What is your favourite caricature? Do you do any of yourself?

I will have to go with the Lupita caricature I did for an exhibition (Gravity) last year. I’ve done about four ‘selfie’ (caricatures) of myself so far. 

3. What is the most exciting project you have worked on?

Osborne Macharia’s Mengo project has been the most exciting project for me yet. It was unique and fun to do and it challenged me a lot. Just seeing it grow from an idea that was shared with me to the final execution was inspiring and motivational. From that experience I now have a different approach to my own ideas for future projects. 

4. Do you ever see yourself venturing out from this particular form of art?

Yeah, apart from caricatures I also do character design, portraits, illustrations and traditional paintings. Caricatures are just what I learnt digital art with and I plan on expanding my skills way beyond that. 

5. How do you measure the value of your work, and how do you deal with it when a customer doesn’t agree with you?

Value is measured by how long the artwork takes and how much is put into it in terms of detailing, to number of objects or persons in the particular piece. When a customer doesn’t agree with me I try as much as possible to break down the art process and how long particular steps will take to execute so that they understand why I am charging them that much.