A local artist is using social media to turn his inspiration into his clientele.
Rahmaan Hameed is a modern contemporary pop artist, and he recently returned from Los Angeles where he painted a mural for Marvel actor Simu Liu – all thanks to an Instagram DM.
Hameed grew up in Edmonton and said he's always been inspired by pop culture characters throughout his life from anime, comic books and sports.
"I like to create pieces that people can immediately relate to and identify," he said.
Learning to paint and sketch from his mother at a young age, he's been working professionally as an artist since 2015.
"I just immediately fell in love with the idea of creating things that I had never seen before, creating things that people haven't seen before," he added.
Now, Hameed's work can be found all over Edmonton from the hallways of Kingsway Mall to the hallways of Connor McDavid.
And, with Instagram and TikTok as his gallery, each new client carries the potential for another.
"It's kind of like a snowball effect," he said. "They post [their art], once they share it with their network it gains traction and then other people reach out."
Behind his brushes, Hameed said social media is the second most important tool he has as an artist. He uses it as a portfolio to showcase his art and to connect with clients and brands he'd like to work with.
He created the custom piece for Liu, from Kim's Convenience and the 2021 Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, after sliding into the actor's DMs on New Year's Eve.
"In the morning, he sent me a DM saying, 'I'd love to get some artwork for my home gym,'" Hameed added. "Then I'm just like, 'This is actually happening.'
"It's crazy how one random comment kind of led to a huge opportunity with one of the biggest actors currently."
He finished the project in just three days, with Dragon Ball Z's Goku, Kobe Bryant and Lui's Shang-Chi taking the leading roles in the pop culture art piece.
Liu was one of three dream clients Hameed had heading into 2023, alongside The Rock and Ryan Reynolds. With that collaboration complete, he said he's ready to get working on what's next.
"That's just a great start to the year, builds off really good momentum," he said. "I just want to get those other guys down too, take it to bigger and higher levels."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk
