Phogole’s drawing ticks the right boxes
His starring work has since been featured in the City of Ekurhuleni’s Facebook page
“All I do is imagine it and then create it; art comes naturally to me,” said Plan Phogole, a self-taught Boksburg visual artist who lives and breathes art.
Phogole, also known as ‘King of Drawings’, makes any type of drawing come to life with his expressionist background.
The 23-year-old, who hails from Limpopo in a village called Mphamana, said he developed his love for art while he was still in high school.
“My peers used to encourage me to keep drawing because apparently I was good at it. While in the middle of a lesson I would find myself glued to my drawing and drew wrestling fighters and celebrities. My actions in the long run affected me because my marks started to drop. I then had to make a decision to take my school work seriously,” Phogole said.
He said he sold his first picture of his Saturday school teacher for R100.
After realising people loved his drawings, he started researching on how to enhance his drawing skills.
“I then started making money from my drawings. I would market myself on Facebook and people from as far as Cape Town would be interested in my work,” Phogole said.
Challenges
The artist said his older brother, Christopher Phogole who was an established artist, played a significant role in influencing him to nurture his craft.
He said things took a turn in 2017 when his brother became mentally challenged.
“Children at school used to bully me because of my brother’s situation. I started having low self-esteem which affected my love for drawing. But I encouraged myself to rise up against all odds. I didn’t want to give up because I didn’t want to fail my brother. I strive to flourish in everything I do now to make my brother and family proud,” he said.
The unemployed artist said some of the challenges he has faced was not being accepted into various universities since he matriculated in 2017.
“Seeing that I love drawing, I wanted to obtain a fine art qualification but various universities have been declining my application due to my grades. I hope they will eventually accept me so that I can continue my studies,” he said.
City of Ekurhuleni recognises him
On November 13, while exhibiting his work at an event at the Germiston Theatre, he was spotted by an official from the Ekurhuleni municipality. His work has since been featured in the City of Ekurhuleni’s Facebook page.
Phogole, who spends most of his time at the Creative Art Centre in Market Street, said he is inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s work.
“I spend most of my time at the Creative Art Centre because there are resources that I can use for my drawings since I own a few material,” said Phogole.
He appeals to anyone who can to donate water colour pencils, graphite pencils, sketch pads or drawing books and a drawing stand.
Anyone who would like to help may phone him on 076 822 0495. You can also follow him on Facebook KOD Drawings, Instagram @kodplan and Twitter @artphogole.
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