Painting and posting Worth viral today on social media without showing your Face

If anyone had told me that posting my art without showing my face would one day turn into a steady ₦20,000 business, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. At the time, I just needed a way to express myself — quietly. I wasn’t trying to become famous. I didn’t want attention. I just wanted to create.

It started in 2022. Life wasn’t easy then. No regular job. No connections. No “right look” for Instagram, either. I was staying with a relative, sharing space, barely managing meals. The only thing I had was my old sketchpad, a set of secondhand brushes, and leftover acrylics from a school project I never finished.

One evening, I painted something out of frustration. It was a face — faceless, actually. Just shadows, with deep color in the eyes. It meant something to me, so I took a photo of it. Not with any plan. Just instinct. I uploaded it to a blank page I created online. No name. No bio. Just the painting.

I didn’t even tag anyone. I just posted and left it there.

Three days later, I saw it had been shared. Someone said it looked “like grief and peace at the same time.” I was surprised. And quiet about it. I still didn’t show my face. I didn’t want anyone to know it was me. I just posted more. Some raw sketches. Some unfinished work. Pieces that were personal.

That’s how it started.

By early 2023, someone messaged the page:
"Do you sell these?"

I paused. Sell? I didn’t even know how to price anything. I said, “Yes.” They asked for a custom version. I made it, packed it, and delivered it without a signature — just a small note: “For your space. Thank you for seeing something in it.”

₦7,000.

That was my first sale.

It wasn’t a breakthrough, but it was more than anything else I had earned that month. And it kept happening. Slowly. Someone asked for a birthday gift. Another person said they wanted art for their Airbnb space. I didn’t have a name. Still no face. Just the art.

In 2024, I was charging ₦15,000.

By mid-2025, I had earned ₦20,000 for a single piece. Not because I had followers or a big brand. Just because people saw something in what I painted.

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What made it different was that I never attached my identity. I never stood in front of the canvas for a reel. I didn’t post process videos. I didn’t smile for the camera. I only showed the edges of the frame, the textures, the strokes.

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There were times I wondered if I was hiding. But then I realised I was creating safety — a space where the art could breathe, where I could build something without pressure. I didn’t want to be a personality. I just wanted to paint.

One of my pieces even made it to a reseller’s platform. I didn’t know until someone sent me a screenshot. They’d bought my original, framed it, and re-sold it for nearly double. I wasn’t angry. I was proud. That meant there was value in what I made — real value.

I don’t even know how many paintings I’ve done now. Some days I get overwhelmed, but when I sit with a brush, it still feels the same. Peaceful. Wordless. Like finally being heard without having to speak.

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People assume going viral means dancing, shouting, or doing something dramatic. But sometimes, the most viral thing is silence. Sometimes, the work alone is loud enough.

I still live simply. I don’t do big shows. I haven’t opened a gallery. I don’t plan to. But the work is steady. My table is full. And for someone who once couldn’t afford two meals a day, that’s everything.