NAIROBI (Xinhua) -- The artist cautiously presses a knob on his airbrush as he casts his eyes at a portrait of a young, gorgeous woman hung on a wall.

Working tirelessly, the artist endeavors to make a replica of the portrait, which he later hopes to sell to members of the refugee community in Eastleigh, a residential estate in Nairobi, largely inhabited by Somali ethnic community.

Using his skills, Ibrahim Yonas, an Eritrean refugee, has captured the attention of the refugee community living in Eastleigh.

Ibrahim paints their portraits, many that now adorn walls of their dwellings in the vast estate that is a host to refugees from Somalia, Congo, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

"My paintings have won their hearts," said Ibrahim.

"Majority of them come and request me to paint their portraits after seeing my works from their friends.

"Some of them want the portraits so that they can send them to relatives abroad while others hang them in their houses."

To make the portraits, Ibrahim uses compressed air, watercolours and a piece of canvas material.

"The brush is attached to an air compressor.

"I control it in the air because in this technique, known as airbrush painting, the brush must not touch the canvas material," he explained.

He started by expanding a picture.

"When I receive a photo, I photocopy it to size A1 so that I can see clearly the details I want, for instance, the ears, eyes, lips, hair styles and jewellery," he said.

"Afterwards, using a pencil, he sketched the main details of the image onto a tracing paper.

"I do this keenly so that I can get finer details of the person. Like their wrinkles or dimples," he said.

"Thereafter, on the opposite side of the paper, Ibrahim used a piece of chalk to make an outline of the visible image.

He afterwards laid the side drawn with the chalk on the canvas material to transfer the image.

After that, Ibrahim identified the lightest spot on the photo to get the base colour he would use.

"Base colour is the lightest shade of a colour which will remain if one removes the dark shades.

"For instance, the colour light brown," explained Ibrahim.

He after that began the painting process by airbrushing the base colour on every part of the portrait.

"One must be very cautious while painting since any shake can spoil the entire picture."

To complete a picture, Ibrahim took about three days.

"Men’s portraits are the easiest to paint.

"However for women, it takes time to bring out their hairstyles, jewellery and make up."

When he completed the painting process, he thereafter ironed the canvas material to make the colours permanent.

He later framed the work.

Ibrahim sold each portrait for between 32 and 38 U.S. dollars.

"The money is not much because of the work involved.

"I usually make the portraits on order.

"A person will first give me a down payment so that I know they are serious."

Apart from the portraits, Ibrahim also makes T-shirts.

"On request, I draw peoples’ portraits on their clothes," he said.

Ibrahim started the art while still a student at a school in Eastleigh.

He learned the art by observing an artist painting graffiti on matatus.

"I have never stepped in an art class.

"I learned painting because of my enthusiasm," he said.

He said one of his clients liked his work and bought for him an air compressor machine that he now uses.

"The man was so happy with my work that he bought for me this machine," he said, pointing at the air compressor.

To succeed as a portraitist, Ibrahim said one has to do a lot of research and pay attention to every detail in a photo.

"If a person has a birthmark or a pimple, you have to show those details in the portrait.

"A little change alters the portrait," he added.

While working on a portrait, a woman identified as Zein Mohammed from Ethiopia arrived to inquire about her picture.

She congratulated him for his progress and promised to return the next day to pick it.

Ibrahim exhibits his portraits in some of the art concerts held at the British Council in Nairobi.

Kenya is home to many refugees especially those from Somali, Sudan and Ethiopia.