How Greenwood reacted to this 25-hour portrait

Thursday 28 October 2021 12:30

A pastel artist behind an incredible Mason Greenwood portrait has revealed how the Manchester United striker reached out to him on social media with a message of gratitude.

KhizzaArt spent over 25 hours working on the passion project after drawing inspiration from Greenwood’s goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers back in August, when the Red’s celebration included a 'Wakanda' salute that paid tribute to the late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman.

While the artist is not a United fan, he was drawn to Greenwood’s talent and everything that our proud Academy graduate represents. “Mason epitomises the daydreams of the small six-year-old kicking a football around in a baggy no.11 shirt on the cobbled streets of Salford,” KhizzaArt told us. 
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See how the incredible portrait of Mason was created.
“It was inevitable that I was going to do a piece of Mason: for me it was all about the timing. I admire his strength and determination in breaking into a world-class starting XI. It is truly inspiring and I thrive off seeing people doing well in what they love and Mason is a prime example of that. 

“Mason scoring the winning goal against Wolves and celebrating with the Wakanda gesture, I knew this was the special moment that couldn't go amiss. I edited the image to my liking and added the iconic red for the background to cement the home of Man United. The portrait took 25 hours to complete. With a couple of night shifts and extra sugar in the tea, the piece was finished.”
KhizzaArt is not the only person who is pleased with the project. His portrait was shared by our official TikTok account and the video has received over one million views at the time of writing. 

“The feedback from my work has been phenomenal,” admits the talented artist. “I completed this piece a month before the artwork got released, so when Man United uploaded it on TikTok, I was overwhelmed to say the least. The traffic coming through was mind-blowing. 
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Greenwood responded positively to the portrait, based on his this goal against Wolves...
“The funny thing is, not long after the artwork was pushed on all socials, my phone died and I was out at the time, so I didn't get a chance to see what was happening until a few hours later. 

“Turning my phone on, I had tons of messages saying 'Greenwood has commented!' and at the top of that was a private message from Mason, saying 'amazing work'. Later in the conversation, he was even saying he would like to have the artwork.”

Follow @KhizzaArt on Instagram to see more portraits.

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