Nyasha Warambwa – better known by his alias Huliodraws – is a mushrooming Zimbabwean digital artist whose works are beautifully surreal and magically realistic.
At just eighteen years, he has proved that nothing is off-limits with a smartphone and decent software. For the minute that he has been creating professionally, the lad has scored gigs for big-name clients like Chris Brown, Young Thug, UK drill artists and some Canadian rappers.
#enthuse recently caught up with Huliodraws for a reflective Q&A around his current practice, working with Chris Brown, how the internet is helping him reach a wider audience and the things he would change about the Zimbabwean art industry.
#enthuse: Can you briefly tell us who ykhulio is?
Huliodraws: The name ykhulio honestly is just a cool name I came up with for my Instagram and other socials a while back but my real name is Nyasha Warambwa. I am an 18-year-old Zimbabwean boy based in Harare, Zimbabwe who just finished writing his A’Level examination at Gateway high school. To go more in-depth, I am a small-time artist with very big plans to change how digital art is viewed in Zimbabwe in the coming years. I have had a very good startup as an artist this year and I only intend to get bigger and better in the coming years.
#enthuse: Describe the type of work/art you do.
Huliodraws: I guess my art can not have a specific label put on it since I draw so many styles and themes of it. But if I were to put a general label on it, then it would be referred to as vector art which means I make it using a mouse and keyboard, utilising what is called the pen tool in most drawing applications.
#enthuse: How did you start? Did you get trained for it or it is an inherent talent?
Huliodraws: Well, my passion for art has stemmed from since I was a child. I have been drawing traditionally all my life, but I only really got to doing digital art seriously this year around the month of April when I made my drawing account on Instagram. I taught myself how to draw mainly from experimentation and watching YouTube tutorials, although some styles and techniques in my work have come from other artists like Akaiithedesigner and Ceethakreator, two extremely talented artists from overseas who have been drawing for a very long time now and who I’m blessed to say are now healthy competition to me.
#enthuse: Who are some of the people or stars that you have worked with?
Huliodraws: I’ve worked with a lot of small-time artists from overseas especially artists on the UK drill music scene and some Canadian and American rappers. But if I were to choose a top three, then my third most notable work is a cover I did for a well known Atlanta artist named Kap G; the song is called NANA and can be found on all streaming platforms.
My second most notable is a Naruto inspired piece that I did for Tory Lanez that he liked so much that he followed me and DM’d me on Instagram telling me how much he loved my drawings which he had already seen before because of CB.
My number 1 most notable bits of works are for Chris Brown. I have been approached by Chris to do a number of things for him including promotional artwork for his Slime and B mixtape with Young Thug. The artwork was posted by Chris and Young Thug and is still up on Chris’s page. The while, Young Thug has taken down the majority of his posts recently to make room for his upcoming album. But the majority of the other much bigger projects that Chris has asked me to work on are still undergoing and should be dropping early next year or later on in the year depending on how the COVID situation pans out. Unfortunately, I can’t disclose what the projects entail due to the non-disclosure that I signed with him and his team but I can tell you that the projects are very big and it is extremely humbling that he chose me to do them for him.
#enthuse: Which one of your works/pieces would you say is your proudest?
Huliodraws: My favourite piece of mine is undoubtedly my Bart Simpson piece I made for Chris brown. The piece basically kicked off my career in drawing and changed my whole life basically…The piece gained me my first recognition with Chris and I can say has been the reason why Chris has taken an interest in all my other drawings. So far the drawing has been on Chris’s Instagram DP, his Twitter, his Instagram feed and been painted by Chris himself as a huge mural on the front door of his house in LA. The piece also got me the opportunity to actually talk to Chris because as soon as he first saw it, he sent me a DM in response to it. A flame emoji to be exact🔥
#enthuse: How is the internet helping you to market yourself to people outside Zimbabwe & Africa?
Huliodraws: By putting all my work out there on the internet, it has basically broken all the barriers that I would’ve faced if I had kept my art traditional and offline. I use the internet as a bridge between me, a regular Zimbabwean teenager and the globally recognised celebrities overseas. I think the internet has proven to me that no matter what country you are in, you can impact someone out there through your passion. I’ve always had a passion for drawing but never ever did I think I’d see the day where my artwork would sit on the front door of worlds biggest RnB artists mansion and never did I think I’d see the words Free Zimbabwe on a legendary rapper like Young Thug’s Instagram page but it happened just through the power of the internet.
#enthuse: What are some of the things you didn’t know when you started, but know now?
Huliodraws: I guess there’s not much that I have seen in my art journey that surprised me as an artist, mostly because I have been following other artists from overseas for a long time before I started drawing myself. But because I’ve excelled past a number of them in my achievements, it has availed a lot of extra problems especially in personal relationships with friends.
When I started, I thought everyone would be happy for me and want to see me win, but as I got more and more successful this year, I saw many of my friends stop communicating with me and falling out of my life simply because of fear that I’ve grown an ego which I have not. Or because of intimidation or envy that I’ve progressed so much. Because of this, I have changed my habit of posting every single huge achievement that I’ve had on social media and I am now only posting what I feel will make the most impact to someone and inspire them to pursue their own talents.
#enthuse: What are some of the things you’d like to change about the Zimbabwean industry?
Huliodraws: Over this year, I have found that in Zimbabwe we have a horrible tendency to give mainstream support and attention only to things we are already so used to and comfortable with. Not to bring down anyone’s grind or hustle, but things like music, film and fine art are things that we have a lot of in Zim as well as other common abilities that I have not mentioned but these areas are very saturated areas with talents. I’ve found that in Zim we would rather give more mainstream attention to as many up-and-coming talents in these areas as we can, rather than trying to bring to light and celebrate already established and flourishing talents like my own and maybe many others that are unheard of because we choose to keep them out of the spotlight simply because it is something out of our comfort zone as a country.
Not to sound ungrateful for the many amazing and supportive Zimbabweans that have supported me on social media, but with gaining attention from mainstream support systems like radio and television in Zim I can honestly say that I’ve struggled to do so over my come up this year which is something I just find frustrating as an artist considering all the hard work I have put in and the boundaries I feel I’ve broken for myself and other digital artists in the country.
I feel like we will never be properly appreciated as artists in the country until we get recognition from mainstream platforms like radio and TV. To prove my point, I will also say that I have been approached by magazines from overseas wanting to report on my story with CB and other celebrities. Just from that, we can clearly see the difference in appreciation for different types of talent overseas and it is definitely something lacking in Zimbabwe.
Something that I’d like to see a change in the Zim talent industry is for us to take a step out of our comfort zone and appreciate all talents, especially ones that are flourishing overseas trying to bring light to the country and just create a healthy environment for them to grow and succeed further even locally.
Find Huliodraws on Instagram @huliodraws/@ykhulio, and on Twitter @ykhulio
