Devon Rodriguez - Visual Artist

Devon Rodriguez is a contemporary portrait artist who rose to fame through his viral TikTok videos sketching subway passengers. He is now a globally recognized visual artist and the most followed artist on social media worldwide. He was born in 1996 in the South Bronx.

Rodriguez rose to fame by sketching portraits of strangers on the New York City subway. He has transformed his childhood passion for drawing into a major career, featuring work in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and partnering with international brands.

In his early life, he was raised by his grandmother in the South Bronx. He has described his childhood environment as challenging but credits art with helping him navigate those difficulties. In his youth, Rodriguez was initially interested in graffiti art, but shifted his focus to portraiture after an arrest at the age of 13.

During the 2020 pandemic, he began sharing videos of his subway drawings on TikTok. His videos, which capture the surprised reactions of his portrait subjects, quickly went viral.