Visual artist Orando “The Pencil Man” Henry can’t remember a time when the world of art was not part of his life.

“I know it sounds cliché, but its the truth. Ever since I can remember… from I could hold a pencil, art has been part of my life. It is all I have always wanted to do. This is not a hobby so I don’t have a Plan B. I am doing it because I love it… I am art,” the 25-year-old told the Jamaica Observer during a recent interview.

Today Henry lives out his dreams working as an illustrator, choosing portraiture as his preferred means of artistic expression.

“I never started out doing portraits. At first I was doing a lot of figures, the full body. I was in the ninth grade at Green Island High School when a past student came there and showed us some of his portraits and I was immediately drawn to them. So I just went home and practised focusing on the face. I am not a conceptual artist, meaning there is no story behind the work, I love realism. But when you get a portrait right there is a story to be found in the features… the eyes, the mouth, something always tells a story,” he shared.

Henry’s social media pages are filled with examples of his work and his subjects range from local and international sports and entertainment personalities, as well as work for which he was commissioned.

One is immediately struck by the detail of Henry’s work. The personalities are easily recognised and expressions and facial features captured down to the most minute detail.

“When I am being commissioned, I ask for persons to send me a very clean, clear photograph. I need to see the details. That’s when I am able to give the best results. Once I can see the expressions, the lines, the pores, they all give me a hint as to who the persons really [are] as I aim to recapture what I’m seeing,” he said.

In recreating from a photograph, Henry said he likes to have a range of looks to choose from. He will then scroll through until that one photograph catches his eye. In his early days he would start by focusing on a specific feature, but these days he takes a much more methodical approach, using a grid system in order to achieve a much more accurate representation and local the facial features in relation to each other. That, he said, is the easy part. What comes next is the shading, contouring, and layering using graphite and coloured pencils, which really bring his work to life, giving them the realistic look and feel he has become known for.

Henry shared what he saw in a few of the local personalities whom he has sketched that drew him to reproduce the popular photographs.

“Most of the time it is how I feel. I look into the eyes and I will see emotions, happy, sad, excited, and I work from there.”

“With Lila Ike I got that combination of excitement and calm from her and as I continued I found her confidence. As for Usain Bolt, I was working on a technique called chiaroscuro, which has to do with the treatment of light and shade and the effect it creates. This was made popular by Michaelangelo. I saw the picture of Bolt and just thought this would be a great photo to show off the technique and it turned out quite well.

When Henry posted the portrait of Lila Ike, an image which he drew from the cover art of her EP The ExPerience, which was released earlier this year, he tagged her in his post and she responded with the blushing hugs emoji.

Henry has an extensive wish list of local personalities he would like to commission a portrait. At the top of that list is Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

“I think the prime minister is such an inspiration. I am not speaking in a political manner. But just for his leadership at such a young age… that is quite an achievement, and that is a something I admire. Internationally, I would love for Will Smith to commission me to do a portrait. He is one of the international celebrities that I really look up to. I am not a painter, I don’t like to paint. When I pick up a paintbrush there is absolutely no connection, but once I pick up a pencil that’s it for me, I come alive, hence the name The Pencil Man. I want to start capturing Jamaicans and have them know me and my work then take it to the world,” said Henry.