I Tell Stories Through My Artwork – Bright Ntuli

Over the years artists have been using their talents to tell stories that educate, inform and entertain; and these stories are expressed in various formats like music, drama and poetry. Things took a different turn with Bright Ntuli, a sketch artist from France extension in the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), in Pietermaritzburg who tells his stories through sketching portraits.

Bright told Blazonmagazine on Monday that his artwork is one of the things that sustains his living, growing up in a poverty stricken community where there was not much to keep one going. “Growing up in a township where there are less of things to do, even the education system itself is poor to a point where one would actually feel like their dreams are limited.” Ntuli lamented.

Its conditions like these that led a young Bright Ntuli to grab a pencil and paper to sketch his emotions down, telling a story and educating the next person.

He never thought he would find himself being a sketch artist one day. His then school mates told him to pursue sketching as a career, he did, however that was futile due to lack of financial support. He was forced to drop out of tertiary and hustle in order to keep body and soul together.

Sketching now seems to be the only option he has to make a living, he is now based in the central of Durban where he sells his sketches and also prints clothing containing his artwork. Bright, however, has big ambitions; he wants his artwork to reach places far away from home especially other African countries where people can relate to his work. He also desires to be like his inspiration, Nelson Makamo, a young South African artist who was invited to Trevor Noah’s TV show in America.

According to Bright, things would be easy for him if he had someone investing in his work as that will make it easy for him to be able to sell his work in all the right places.

In 2020 he plans to big in the industry by participating in art competitions in the city.