Art and painting has never been my talent as not everyone is blessed with such gift. Some people are born with it and some go to universities to further develop their skills. For the past few months I have been featuring some of the talented artists and their works from our country. There are some who you would find in the most unexpected places.

Capturing Life in 15 Minutes

This is Nick Rodis an on the spot portrait sketcher and painter who just appeared while we were eating lunch. A crowd gathered which caught my attention and I wanted to know what the fuzz was all about. I saw Nick with his canvas and drawing a portrait of a little girl. Nothing out of the ordinary about it which I said to myself. Then I saw a timer and people were counting the minutes that passed. Then I found out that Nick sketches portraits in 15 minutes. I was blown away which made me stay to see how he accomplishes this feat.

Armed with his tools and amazing talent he usually charges around 1500 pesos or around $29.00 for a portrait. In this occasion he only charges 300 pesos or $6.00 which he would waive the fee if he did not finish your portrait in 15 minutes. This is pushing one's self to the limits. He said that this is his way of practicing in order to be selected on a TV show called Pinoy's Got Talent which is the local version of America's Got Talent. He is aiming for two minutes as the contest demands just two minutes to showcase you talent. So far he mentioned that he has not gotten any calls yet and so he must push himself further.

This is a portrait of a little girl that he was finishing up. The girl was not there and he was just asked to sketch it from a photo on a mobile phone. Still the timer was running which he accomplished within the allotted time.

Copying from the mobile phone was not that challenging as we do not have a moving subject. The real challenge is with a live moving subject in which I was able to cover from start to finish.

I love how he interacts with the spectators and the customer while he works on the portrait. I could feel the pressure as time was an essence and with a lot of people watching you every stroke.

This is how he started out first by drawing out the outline which just took him a couple of seconds.

What he focuses on the most is the eyes.
As written on his ad:

Habang nakaupo at naghihintay
Hindi sa ganda o tangos ng ilong
Kungi ang kislap ng mga mata

(While sitting and waiting
It is not the beauty or shape of the nose
but with the sparkle of the eyes)

While working on the portrait he stopped and said, "There is something missing. Where are your glasses? Please put them on as it would bring out the real you."
The old man immediately then placed them on.
As the old man was fixing the straps on the glasses he said, "Don't fix the straps just leave them on naturally."
When everything was set he said, "There you are! It is showing the real you and expresses your personality and experience in life."

Nick sees thru people and their personality which brings out a stunning outcome of the portrait.

One of the relatives of the old man said, " Smile uncle!"
Nick in response said, "No please do not do that. I want it to be as natural as possible and just be yourself."

Nick checked the timer and said, "3 minutes left".

To me it was already done but he was still doing the finishing touches. He told the old man it is ok if they past the 15 minutes allotted time. He said that he does not need to pay him with the talent fee. The old man replied, "It is ok if you pass it a couple of minutes as I would like it to turn beautiful."

Nick thanked the old man but still he did not falter in which he continued to push to complete it in 15 minutes.

Two minutes passed then down to a minutes. Finally with 7 seconds left on the clock he drew the last stroke with his pencil. This drew an applause from the crowd and myself.

As all artist do he marked his work with his signature. A sign of a true artist working under pressure, challenging one's self, loving one's work and inspiring others.

This has taught me a lesson to challenge myself. Even though I do not know how to sketch or paint. I will push myself to improve my passions in life which includes photography.

Challenge and live life as it was meant to be. Steem on!

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All photos are original and taken with

Lumix GX85 and 12-32 mm