Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Osighe Akpeokhai. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Osighe, appreciate you joining us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

So the name OsiDraws, as it sounds is simply from my first name and the word draws however, that was not the original name I had in mind. The original name was simply going to be DrawnByMe, this was going to leave the business an ambiguous name and not attached to me. However, many of my friends said why would I do that, I made the business I should be proud to put my name on it, so I put DrawnByOsi. However I realized that was way too long and coming up with a logo was too difficult, so I shortened it and also made it “present tense” by making it OsiDraws.

Osighe, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For as long as I can remember, I have always had an inclination to being an artist since I was in preschool.. It wasn’t until I was in 7-8th grade when the idea of selling my art came in to play. My friends would always say you should start selling my artwork or rather making commissions for people in general. I decided to take this and ran with it. I didn’t have a name for the business but I decided to start selling and doing commissions. Then in 2017 I decided to name the business DrawnbyOsi but then changed it immediately to OsiDraws as it was something simple and rememberable. I have had mixed feelings about the business name only because it seemed like a mouth full. In addition to the title being long, I couldn’t create an Instagram account under “osidraws” because was taken so I decided to take the name “Osi Can Draw” as o.c.d.101
Early on I only was doing anime and my own created art style anilyfe(anime combined with realism) then over time I developed my art style and delved into the digital art realm which was the most difficult change as was painting because both mediums are something I was never good at but for the sake of the customers I would have that would desire customized products or maybe logos; I had to learn.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

When I was initially starting my business OsiDraws, one thing I had to do was figure out how to afford all the supplies necessary to perform my job. Initially I was utilizing crayola pencils that happened to be in my house. I then started making a small income from a Mexican Restaurant job. With a steady income, I had to figure out how to get the best of the best materials: Copic Markers, Angelus Paint Faber Castels and Prismacolors. Soon, Michaels Crafts and Arts stores and I were best friends, especially with their discounts, vouchers and deals that they had daily. I can’t even count how many times the moment I had a $5.00 voucher I would immediately go to Michaels to purchase a marker or pencils that I don’t own to bring up my collection numbers. To this day, I still do this method because it has been engraved into my spending habits.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

How I have been building my audience in social media, was following trends or more so providing transparency with my work. As a student I had to be honestly on the media about when an artwork was done, if an artwork was going to be delayed and or was halfway done, I always kept it clear and concise what I am doing and how I am working on it. Another way I was trying to build a social media presence was telling word of mouth and joining drawing or design challenges to gain audiences that enjoy that content. If I had to give advice to those trying to build a social media presence, it’s definitely join different challenges or contests just to be attached to another bigger artists. Another thing is always creating content, whether if its the same artwork posted three times or just multiple times throughout the week. The biggest thing is consistency and numbers, the more numbers of posts or interactions and the more consistent you engage or are active, then you should see growth. Even if its a little.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: o.c.d.101
• Facebook: OsiDraws
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/osighe-akpeokhai
• Youtube: One2Any
• Other: Website is currently in the works of being revamped. It is currently at https://osakpeokhai.wixsite.com/osidraws

  but will be featured in osidraws.xyz

Image Credits

OsiDraws Instagram page
Masashi Kishimoto image inspiration (Naruto vs Sasuke Poster)
Kohei HorikoshiI image inspiration(My hero Academia phone case)
Jenna Ortega Image inspiration
Stephen Hillenburg image inspiration(Spongebob)