Meet Kareem Olamilekan Waris, The Gifted 11-Year-Old Hyperrealist

Kareem Waris Olamilekan, who is also known as Waspa, is an incredible Nigerian artist, and he is only 11 years old.

Kareem stunned the world by drawing France president under two hours, Emmanuel Macron was amazed he congratulated the wonder boy with the caption"Very touched. Congrats to this young boy on his official twitter page. The portrait his French Presiden.

Lagos state Governor Ambode on the left, French President at the center while the wonder kid himself faced the portrait

Brief story about Kareem
The young artist was born on March 14, 2007. He started drawing when he was only six years old, and he drew comics and cartoons. The talent was apparent in his art, so when Kareem and his family moved to Iyana Ipaja, Lagos State two years after, he decided to pursue this hobby seriously.
At one point, Waris met a boy who turned out to be an apprentice at the Ayowole Academy of Arts, and he became interested in becoming one himself. Kareem showed his work to Adeniyi Adewole, the man who ran the school, and he was so impressed that he let him join the academy and learn more about art.
Kareem is a student at the Oke-Odo Junior High School, and he continues perfecting his craft. While the artist usually works in the style of hyperrealism and uses pencils and pens as his tools, he sometimes exchanges them for paints and crayons as he works with face painting, murals on houses and his art school homework.

When he just began drawing, Waspa admitted that he had not always had the means to support his passion. His family was not at all wealthy, so it was sometimes hard for him to get the necessary materials for his drawings.
Now, however, the boy is coming up in this world. His drawings of famous Nigerian politicians have gotten recognition from the politicians themselves, and not that long ago, Kareem was invited by the Managing Director of Ecobank to draw the President of France Emmanuel Macron.
In just two hours, he drew a striking portrait of the French President at the New Africa Shrine. Emmanuel Macron impressed with Waspa’s talent, and he congratulated the young man in person and via his Twitter.
The word about Nigeria’s youngest artist in the genre of hyperrealism go viral , and people all over the world have learned of this young talent. The story of Waspa was mentioned on CNN, broadcast on CGTN Africa and even on the BBC News, so the boy is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
As you can see, Kareem is a unique individual whose talent greatly surpasses even those older than him by decades. But right now, let’s enjoy the beauty Kareem has already brought into this world.

Check out for some of his beautiful drawings