A Wolves supporter and artist based in Nigeria has given head coach Vitor Pereira the most special of birthday presents this weekend.
Chigozie Ogide spent 88 hours sketching an eye-catching piece of art depicting the Old Gold head coach, who celebrates his 57th birthday on Saturday, and Ogide gifted his piece as a birthday present.
Ogide fell in love with the club seven years ago, following Wolves’ promotion to the Premier League under Nuno Espirito Santo, and has remained a fanatical supporter since, despite never leaving Nigeria.
The 27-year-old’s love of Wolves has fused with his talent for drawing – he honed his skills during lockdown through YouTube tutorials and tips on social media, and Wolves stars are often the subject of his practice.
Using graphite pencils, Ogide, who is a full-time artist, has expertly drawn Ruben Neves, Jose Sa and Jorgen Strand Larsen over the years, and recently made Pereira his next focus.
After 88 hours of graft, Ogide completed his masterpiece and posted it to Wolverhampton. The final, framed artwork was gifted to Pereira for his birthday and will now sit proudly in his office at Compton Park.
Ogide said: “It feels surreal. To know that a piece of my work lives in Vitor's office is both an honour and a reminder of how far my art has come. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity and for everyone who believed in my dream.
“I randomly saw Wolves on TV in 2017, and their colours, and playing style caught my attention. I started keeping tabs on them, but I became fully invested when they got promoted to Premier League. What sealed it for me was that Neves free-kick in the first game against Everton. The club has a great sense of community, and I think I found where I belong.”
Pereira was visibly delighted with his birthday gift, which has now been added to Ogide’s online portfolio, available by clicking here. For Ogide, the Pereira work took particular planning.
“I started off with drawing the outline with a H pencil, using grid method for extra accuracy. Then, I started shading the background from the top left, as I like to draw from top left to right then down. It’s better if you're right-handed, as it avoids smudging the drawing.
“Once the top left was done, I moved to the face. I drew the hair first using indentation technique to create fine highlights on the hair. Once the hair was done, I completed the face and the top right of the background.
“I worked eight hours every day, six hours during the day and two hours at night to speed up the drawing process. I used make-up brushes to blend the background and face after shading. The most challenging part of the drawing was the shirt. I had to use a lot of Mars Lumograph black 8B powder that I ground from scratch. The final step was the finishing touches, then I sprayed fixative over it, and I was done.”
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