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PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — "I just sat in silence and was like, 'Damn, like, what is my life?'"
Such are the thoughts of Dhwani Saraiya — a self-made artist who often finds herself stunned by the success of her detailed, comic book-style artwork of Philadelphia sports figures.
"I think I have those moments a lot."
In this specific instance, she had just learned about a purchase by Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey. The dude who traded for James Harden was buying her work.
"It's not just cookie cutter," said Morey in an interview with KYW Newsradio.
Morey is not the only high-profile person to notice Saraiya's skill.
'Part of something bigger'
Despite being a lifelong native of Edison, New Jersey — New York sports country — Saraiya has become a committed Philadelphia sports fan.
Her fandom was sparked recently by a seldom-used alternate Sixers uniform they only wore for one season. She says the gray Rocky-inspired jerseys caught her eye during a game she happened to turn on during the 2018-19 season.
"I think the first thing I saw was, 'Oh, these jerseys are pretty cool,' and that's it. I just picked the Sixers as my team and the rest is from there," Saraiya laughed.
Saraiya then went full-tilt into Philly sports. She recognizes there aren't many fellow Philadelphia fans where she lives, but she loves supporting New York's turnpike rivals.
“The feeling of being part of something bigger – I think especially on Twitter, I found so many friends just by being a Philly sports fan. So, I've met some of my best friends that way," she said.
"So, that's the most important thing for me. I think sometimes you Philly fans get a bad rep, as we all know, but I think it comes down to just being super passionate and dedicated to their team.”
One of those new best friends is 19-year-old Berks County native Zach Brader.
"She is everything that a Philly sports fan is," said Brader. "Whenever we're talking about sports, she is exactly what you hear when you're at the stadiums.”
Combining Philadelphia sports with superheroes
Saraiya has been drawn to inking superheroes since high school, a style that’s fed into her take on Philadelphia's best athletes.
Saraiya says when she was a senior at Rutgers, she got an iPad, as well as an app called Procreate --- a digital drawing tool.
"The spark in my brain was like, 'Oh, what if we combine the two things that you love?' Like, I love superheroes and I loved the Sixers at that time, so just started making, kind of fusing the two together."
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Saraiya posted her work, which in addition to her Etsy page you can find on her Twitter and Instagram, and people started noticing.
"I've never imagined like it getting to the level it is now, which is cool," she said.
The first piece she put up was a comic about Sixers guard Matisse Thybulle.
"Man, it just kind of took off from there."
The Art of the Process
Saraiya's podcast with Brader is called "The Art of the Process," which is also the name of her compilation booklet series. It's a fitting name.
"The bigger picture was following a process of any team, there's an art to it," Saraiya says. "There's so many steps involved into taking a team from not being great to sort of kinda pushing them into being something great. The whole process is an art form."
In her work, Saraiya says she usually tries to find a reference picture or a moment in a game that stands out — something with emotion that resonates with people.
"And then, I don't really have a process of how it all comes together. It's just step-by-step, like whatever I see in my brain, that's what I try to put into it," said Saraiya, who has a studio in Metuchen.
Saraiya's parents, who are from India, were both musicians and they are proud of her accomplishments, but she acknowledged pursuing her passion wasn’t the easiest decision.
"A lot of our stereotype [for an Asian American family] is going into the medical field or going into the business. So going into the creative field, I think is always a chip on my shoulder. I want to make sure that I can succeed in this and I want other people who are also Indian to be like, 'Yeah, I can do it too.' I take a lot of pride in that."
Expecting Dhwani to end up on the cover of the NYT
Saraiya says there have been a bunch of Philadelphia sports athletes who have responded to her art -- from former Sixers Danny Green and Dwight Howard to Tobias Harris and Morey.
"Daryl has been such a big, big supporter," said Saraiya. "Like I can not thank him enough. He and his family are so supportive."
Morey, entering his third season with the team, says he noticed Saraiya's work on Twitter.
"I'm a big comic book fan growing up," Morey said. "So her art is similar to the pencilers on some of the top comic books I used to read."
"That was kind of one of my first really 'wow' moments with when I realized how big she was getting," says Brader. "Because I'm like, ‘The guy who runs the 76ers has art that my friend drew.’"
Morey said the prints he bought from Saraiya are in his big memorabilia room at his home. His office at the Sixers training facility in Camden has blank walls, leaving lots of space for more of Saraiya's work.
"I'm sure there will be many this year that I need to get," he said.
Morey said when he was the Houston Rockets' general manager, he came across a really good artist for the team that ended up on the cover of the New York Times.
"So, I'm expecting Dhwani to end up on the front page of The New York Times with her art as well."
'This is my living'
At the beginning of Saraiya's interview with KYW Newsradio, she was asked what she does for a living besides art.
"This is my living … I didn't expect it to be this way."
But she loves it and says she wants to keep doing it as long as she can.
"It's kind of insane that people are willing to buy things that I've made," Saraiya said. "It's a very rewarding experience. To know that people have my artwork on their walls, I don't think there was a greater feeling."
If you want to submit your story, or someone you know, to be highlighted as KYW Newsradio's Philadelphia Sports Fan of the Week, click here.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this story mistakenly said Morey's office was at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers' organization operates from their Camden facility.