On the easel today.

On the easel today July 24,2016 features my newest painting, Muhammad Ali. The world seemed to hold a solemn moment of silence upon knowing of the death of this great human being on June 3, 2016. I sure did have a moment of silence. In this piece the aim was to capture the likeness of Ali in his youth, expressing his kingly character. The representation of Ali in this light signifies his dominance and even his own personal outlook about himself. His bravado and bravery mirrors a confident and unapologetic persona, that captivated the world and stood as a beacon for individuality  and personal belief.

Ali, famously known for his brash comments in press conferences, and confidence in the ring is represented as how I see him; a cultural icon. There is a special relationship that works of art share with a person’s culture, and I see men such as Muhammad Ali as kings in my cultural beliefs-hence his representation.

In this piece you will see an aspect of my style that is evident throughout most of my portraits and representational work; the faint glow on and around the figure. In my paintings depicting figures, I use this to represent the personal aura of the figure or portrait that I am depicting. It speaks to the contained spirit that gives off its own unique light, as we do through our personality. I did run into some difficulty with this piece, seeing that I was using a black canvas, (I’ve come to prefer these) however, they worked themselves out eventually.

I don’t intend to create “art of the times” I aim to create art that shows an understanding of the integral relationship that is shared between art and my ethnic group; not just ethnic group though, but my perception of males and females of my race.

Despite the maxim: Everyday something new, which seems to define the creation of art in the modern era, because of the accessibility to more information from around the globe, I want my paintings to stay true to the idea of my art being about the relationship between its aesthetics and my cultural beliefs, rather than an emotional response to the happenings of the world.