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This series started from sketches at a coffee house on Saturday mornings. Waiting for my car to be washed, I'd spend about 1 to 2 hours sipping dark roast Sumatra while sketching in my book. These sketches, ink washes, watercolors, and digital paintings represent my time listening to music and being creative.
Digital watercolor- The beginning of a series of sketches of Esperanza Spalding after seeing her perform live at the Hyatt Newporter over the summer. Her unique hair and facial expressions make her an interesting subject to draw.
Ink Wash and mixed media
Ink Wash on paper
Coffee House Sketch. Graphite pencil on paper.
Graphite stick
Digital Illustration
Initial pencil sketch of Marvin Gaye for watercolor painting.
Watercolor and Watercolor Pencils-Capturing the soulful singing of Marvin Gaye.
Graphite Sketch
Scanned sketch painted in Procreate app.
Acrylic on Masonite Board-For some reason I gave up painting in acrylic years ago and this painting was my reintroduction to the medium. I really like the vibrancy of the colors and the ability to work fast with the paint. The warm colors in the face play well against the cool colors of the turquoise suit. I like the pose because I can almost hear James singing, "Please, Please, Please."
Sketchbook drawing while waiting for a haircut. As long as I have a sketchbook with me, I'll never get bored while waiting.
Drawn in my sketchbook and then scanned and painted in Procreate.
Watercolor on paper in Moleskine sketchbook.
Graphite sketch in my sketchbook while flying to Spain.
Oil on canvas
Coffee House Series-Ink wash on paper
Coffee House Series-Ink wash on paper
Coffee House Series-Ink wash on paper
Coffee House Series - Graphite on paper
Black ball point pen on paper.
Blue lead pencil sketch on paper.
Blue ball point pen on paper.
Ballpoint pen on paper.
Coffee House Series-Graphite on paper
Ink Wash on paper
Coffee House Series-Graphite on paper
Coffee House Series-Pencil on paper with mixed media
Coffee House Series-Graphite on paper
Coffee House Series-Graphite on paper
Graphite pencil in sketchbook
Black ink and white Gelly Roll pen on brown craft paper sketchbook.
Graphite pencil in sketchbook
Blue lead pencil sketch on paper.
Beauty comes in many shades and forms. This is an exploration in the various forms of Ebony Beauty.
Blue ball point pen on paper.
Brown ball point pen on paper.
Blue ball point pen on paper.
Blue ball point pen on paper.
Black ball point pen on paper.
Graphite pencil in sketchbook
Graphite pencil on paper.
A drawing that started as a Sharpie sketch in my sketchbook and ended up being scanned and painted digitally.
This started as a ballpoint pen sketch for Inktober. It was a reimagining of the character Poison Ivy with a Nubian twist. I was intrigued by the look of it so I did a digital color painting of the sketch.
Black ink and white Gelly Roll pen on brown craft paper sketchbook.
Black ink and white Gelly Roll pen on brown craft paper sketchbook.
A series of sketches and renderings started for an upcoming book on African Americans who were key figures and icons in Black History. All sketches are rendered in ballpoint pen or digital paint.
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Interesting fact: He was the most photographed American of the 19th Century, self-consciously using photography to advance his political views. He never smiled, specifically so as not to play into the racist caricature of a happy slave. He tended to look directly into the camera to confront the viewer, with a stern look.
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Born Malcolm Little, he changed his last name to X to signify his rejection of his “slave” name. Charismatic and eloquent, Malcolm X became an influential leader of the Nation of Islam and sought to encourage and enfranchise disadvantaged young blacks searching for confidence in segregated America.
Interesting Fact: Although Malcolm X was thriving in school, his eighth-grade teacher discouraged him from pursuing his interest in becoming a lawyer. The teacher suggested that carpentry was a more realistic goal for a young Black man. That prompted Malcolm X to quit school and become a hustler.
Mixed Media
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Interesting Facts: Thurgood Marshall's name was originally Thoroughgood but he shortened it to Thurgood in grade two because he was tired of having to spell it out.
Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as a Supreme Court Justice on October 2nd, 1967, making him the first African-American to hold the position in U.S. history. Thurgood served as a Supreme Court Justice for 24 years, retiring in 1991 after having ruled on many landmark cases.
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Interesting Fact: She carried a cane, not for support but for effect. She said it gave her "swank".
Mary McLeod Bethune was an American educator, stateswoman, philanthropist, humanitarian and civil rights activist best known for starting a private school for African-American students in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Matthew Henson was an explorer during the late 1800s and early 1900s. He made many journeys to the Arctic during that time. In 1909, a group led by the famous American polar explorer Robert E. Peary may have been the first people to reach the North Pole. Matt Henson was part of that group.
Interesting Fact: Henson was not happy with his living situation and ran away from home when he was eleven years old. He moved in with a neighbor woman who took pity on him and took care of him. When he was twelve years old, he got a job as a cabin boy on a ship.
In 1912 Henson wrote a book about his explorations titled "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole".
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Educator Booker T. Washington was one of the foremost African-American leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now known as Tuskegee University. Born into slavery in Virginia in the mid-to-late 1850s, Washington put himself through school and became a teacher after the Civil War.
Interesting Fact: He was the first African-American man on a U.S. postage stamp.
Ballpoint pen on paper. From my sketchbook.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was a professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation which then marked many other aspects of American life.
Interesting Fact: On April 15, 1997, Robinson's jersey number, 42, was retired throughout Major League Baseball, the first time any jersey number had been retired throughout one of the four major American sports leagues.
Procreate Digital Sketch
Fred Gray is a civil rights attorney, preacher and activist who practices law in Alabama. He litigated several major civil rights cases in Alabama, including some that reached the United States Supreme Court for rulings.
In 1955, he took on the cases of Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks, who were both charged with disorderly conduct for refusing to give up their seats on a bus to white passengers. Parks's case sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted for more than a year and led to the desegregation of the bus lines.
Interesting Fact:Gray was portrayed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the 2014 film Selma, which dramatizes the Selma to Montgomery marches and Gray's argument before Judge Frank Johnson that the march should be allowed to go forward.
Procreate Digital Painting
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
Interesting Fact: King entered college at the age 15. He was such a gifted student that he skipped grades nine and 12 before enrolling in 1944 at Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather.
The danger of being a little creative is that when people see your work, the first request is always, "Can you draw a picture of me?" Sometimes this is possible and other times it's not. Working a full time job doesn't give me the time I'd like to do many paintings but I try to oblige when possible.
Digital Ilustration
Digital Painting
Digital Illustration
Digital Painting
Watercolor on paper
Digital Illustration
Digital Illustration
Oil on canvas
Digital Illustration. Portrait done for my mom on the celebration of her 80th birthday. She makes 80 look real good!
Painting of my father while we spent time together one lazy Saturday. Created on my iPad Pro in Procreate.
Sketched in ProCreate on my iPad Pro.
Oil on canvas
Oil on canvas
Oil on canvas
Graphite pencil on paper
Graphite on paper
Graphite on paper
Graphite pencil on bristol board
Charcoal on paper
Beginning of a series of sketches done in Sketchbook Pro on my iPad.
Beginning of a series of sketches done in Sketchbook Pro on my iPad.
Best barber and one of the most humble people I know. Beginning of a series of sketches done in Sketchbook Pro on my iPad.
Beginning of a series of sketches done in Sketchbook Pro on my iPad.
Beginning of a series of sketches done in Sketchbook Pro on my iPad.
Beginning of a series of sketches done in Sketchbook Pro on my iPad.
Digital sketch
A couple of quick watercolor sketches of my dad while we hung out together.
Scriptures that stick with me often find their way into my artwork. Depending upon what I'm going through, the best thing to help me meditate on the meaning of the passage is to put it down in some visual form. Some of those passages and thoughts are expressed here.
Oil on canvas. Based on the scripture Ephesians 6:10-18. The battle is real and it's ongoing.
Oil on Canvas
Based on the scripture: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:6-7
A verse I have to keep in my thoughts throughout the day to keep me from worrying about things I have no control over.
Digital Illustration
Digital Illustration: Based on the scripture of Daniel 3:17-18. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
Digital Illustration. Based on Matthew 10:28-30
Digital Illustration. Based on Matthew 10:28-30
Oil on canvas study
Ink and marker on Bristol Board. Based on Isaiah 53:3-6
Oil on canvas. Based on Matthew 9:37-38
iPad sketch based on Mark 5:9 -Then He asked him, “What is your name?”And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”
Pencil on paper. Based on Mattew 28:19-20
Mixed Media: Graphite pencil and painted in Procreate
iPad sketch in Skethbook Pro of Darrell Holt
Pallet knife painting: Oil on canvas-Nature always inspires me and soothes my mind. It also reminds me of the beauty and creativity of my God.
Oil on canvas. Here's a concept I've been looking to come back and finish for quite awhile. The idea is that the central figure is going through some difficult times. In the midst of those difficulties, does he lean on his faith to get through or find some foolish external relief?
Sometimes you get so busy that you don't take time to do what you really enjoy doing. I changed that. I recently took a figure drawing class on Saturdays for 5 hours every Saturday for 14 weeks. It truly sparked my love for drawing again.
Conte Crayon on paper.
Graphite in sketchbook
Graphite pencil on paper
Conte Crayon on paper
Conte Crayon on paper
Graphite pencil in sketchbook- 6"x 8"
I like to keep a sketchbook handy so anytime I have to wait for an extended period of time, I can always keep myself entertained.
Conte Crayon on paper
Ink Wash-25 minute pose
Ink Wash-25 minute pose
Ink Wash-25 minute pose
Ink Wash-25 minute pose
Ink Wash-5 minute poses
Painted version of pervious sketch. Painted in Procreate.
Whenever possible, early Saturday mornings are often spent on photo walks around the city trying to capture interesting sites and practice another passion, Photography.
