My Portfolio 

Charcoal / Graphite

Title: Creed of Carree
Size: 6 ft × 3 ft
Medium: Charcoal pencil and charcoal powder on Strathmore paper
Technical process influenced by: John Singer Sargent, Pepe Salgado

Creed of Carree is a deeply personal self-portrait that honors the legacy of the artist’s father, Brian Carree. As both father and football coach, his presence instilled discipline, work ethic, and passion—values that profoundly shaped the artist’s life. The dual role of parent and coach created a unique bond, demanding accountability, leadership, and resilience.

The figurative pose of taking a knee was chosen for its layered meaning. On the field, this gesture signified focus and respect as players listened to their coaches. In the portrait, it transcends the field, symbolizing the artist’s dedication to the values passed down by his father: discipline, perseverance, and determination to rise above generational hardships.

Although his father passed away in 2022, the lessons he imparted remain an unshakable foundation. They form the guiding principle—the Creed of Carree—a testament to the enduring influence of love, mentorship, and legacy.

Title: Sounds of Spirit
Medium: Charcoal on Stonehenge Paper
Date: April 22, 2022
Size: 6 ft × 3 ft

This life-sized charcoal drawing portrays my college friend Dwayne, inspired by the works of Charles White, Tyrone Jeter, and John Singer Sargent. The composition centers on his face, hands, and headphones, which extend from his right pocket to his ears as a symbol of enlightenment and purity.

Gesture lines within the clothing flow seamlessly into the body’s natural forms—arms, chest, fingers, and neck—highlighting both anatomy and contour. This integration of garment and structure creates cohesion, reinforcing expressiveness and realism.

Through layered shading and contrast, charcoal brings depth and dimensionality to the figure. Light and shadow underscore the theme of mental growth and empowerment, while blending techniques heighten the lifelike presence of the portrait.

To further honor Dwayne’s Black Indigenous heritage, I incorporated facial markings traditionally associated with beauty, identity, and cultural pride—symbols that connect the work to ancestry and spiritual strength.

Title: Bang!!!

Medium: Graphite pencil, Charcoal

Date: November 27, 2025

Size: 9 x 12 inches

This piece captures a decisive counter-shot between two fighters. Canelo Álvarez, on his back foot, drives a crushing uppercut as his opponent over-commits and slips into the punch. The explosive twist of his hips generates the torque behind the knockout blow. Behind them, the referee observes while the textured, energetic lines of the background echo the roar of the crowd, amplifying the power and motion of the moment.

Title: Clarity
Medium: Charcoal on Stonehenge paper
Date: April 20, 2022
Size: 5 ft × 5 ft

Clarity is a charcoal drawing that portrays the artist’s college friend Justin as a symbol of liberation from mental constraints and the empowerment found through reading. The act of breaking the pencil embodies the strengthening of the mind through continuous learning and self-discovery.

Rendered in charcoal, the piece captures depth and texture while emphasizing proportion and dynamic energy in the human figure. Gesture lines transition seamlessly from the folds of clothing into the contours of the body—arms, chest, fingers, and neck—revealing underlying anatomy and creating a sense of natural rhythm. The interplay between fabric and form conveys both external appearance and internal structure, enriching the realism and expressiveness of the figure.

Expressive shading, blending, and layered contrasts enhance the work’s three-dimensional presence, while the use of light and shadow underscores its central theme of growth and empowerment. Ultimately, Clarity reflects a transformative journey of personal development, suggesting that the mind, like the pencil, is both a tool and a symbol of strength—capable of breaking through limitations to realize its full potential.

                      Oil Pastels

Title: Purple Ambition 

Medium: Oil pastel, Charcoal pencil, Graphite on paper

Date: 11- 17- 2025

Size: 37 x 45 inches

This artwork represents darker skin as a symbol of value, boldness, and prosperity. The color purple reinforces that sense of royalty, confidence, and worth. I consider it more of a challenge to create a different color for a skin tone with different values. To integrate warm and cool tones besides brown earthy tones. Society historically has negative views on darker skin. His seated, crossed-leg posture shows  self worth, highly endowed. What God created him to be.

The background figures and the speaker add energy and empowerment. When the human mind sees a speaker, it naturally processes sound.  My artwork  invites you to imagine not just the visual meaning of purple, but its sound. What does victory sound like? What does luxury sound like? What is the sound of richness, success, confidence, calm pride and ambition?

Title: Stay On Track
Medium: Oil pastels, Metallic Oil Pastels on Strathmore paper
Date: December 22, 2024
Size: 4 ft × 3 ft

Stay On Track is a portrait of the artist’s nephew Brian, portrayed as a young boy and now a high school student with aspirations of becoming a train conductor and engineer. A native of Camden, New Jersey, Brian embodies determination and resilience—qualities symbolized through his confident pose with arms crossed.

Executed in oil pastels, the work employs a transition from warm to cool tones to capture the interplay of light and shadow. Varying shades of greens and blues animate Brian’s hoodie, while complementary colors enhance contrast and vibrancy throughout the composition. The figure was constructed with careful attention to structure, proportion, and balance—beginning with basic shapes that were refined through shading and highlights to create depth and realism.

Subtle railroad tracks emerge in the background, reinforcing the title and metaphor of “staying on track.” This symbolic element speaks to the importance of focus and perseverance, aligning with Brian’s personal journey and future ambitions.

Title: Walking In Rhythm 

Medium: Oil Pastels, Charcoal on paper

Date: Oct. 17, 2025

Size:  24 x 30 inches

This artwork captures the everyday movement of people navigating a busy city. The central figure—a man walking in rhythm—reflects how music shapes our journeys and influences our emotional experience. Inspired by Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds,” the piece suggests that sound can transform even an ordinary route into something meaningful.

Everyone moves differently, and our individuality shows through posture, rhythm, and body language. Some people take longer paths in life, while others move through shorter routes. In this work, I experimented with organic, flowing lines, varying textures, and energetic design elements. These unrestricted lines create a sense of motion and openness, guiding the viewer through the visual rhythm of the scene. The dynamic linework shapes the perspective.

Title: Radiance of Joy

 Medium: Oil Pastels, Metallic Oil Pastels, Charcoal stick on paper 

Date: September 28, 2025 

Size: 32 x 40 inches

 This oil pastel painting is my grandmother Evelyn. Between 2021 and 2022, she experienced an unimaginable loss. The passing of her only two children, my aunt and my father. It was a heartbreaking time for our family, yet her ability to remain optimistic and high-spirited continues to amaze me. Every time I speak with her, she is either on her way to church or sharing the scripture of the day. She carries a sense of joy and radiance that feels almost unexplainable. In this artwork, I depict her within a Romantic and Classical-inspired setting, with textured rhythm walls and a warm atmosphere that reflect the faith, joy, and emotional resilience she embodies. A little lady with a big heart, glowing with a high spirit that continues to amaze me. The radiance of joy. 

Title: BoooM!!!!!!!

 Medium: Oil pastels, eraser, on paper Xacto knife 

Date: September 8, 2025 

Size: 18 x 24 inches

 This painting depicts a young urban teen with a boombox, but the real power comes from him, not the speaker. Vibrant waves of color pulse outward, showing that he’s creating the sound, his confidence, style, and energy radiating louder than the music itself. Through this experimental burst of motion rhythmic spiraling lines and color, he becomes the trendsetter, the spark that ignites the rhythm of the city. 

Title: Dynamic Fight

 Medium: Oil pastel Date: October 8, 2025 

Size: 14 x 14 inches

 In the ring, the fighters collide with raw realism, sweat, muscle, and impact captured in every strike. The scene pulses with expressionist intensity, their movements streaking into swirling colors that reveal the emotion and energy behind the blows. One surges forward in a rush of crimson and white, while the other steadies himself amid cool blue and green strokes. The moment becomes not just a fight, but a vivid surge of willpower and adrenaline. The broadcast camera man televising and painting a story of what the audience is seeing, not just the viewer.

Title: Stay On Track
Medium: Oil pastels on Strathmore paper
Date: December 22, 2024
Size: 4 ft × 3 ft

Stay On Track is a portrait of the artist’s nephew Brian, portrayed as a young boy and now a high school student with aspirations of becoming a train conductor and engineer. A native of Camden, New Jersey, Brian embodies determination and resilience—qualities symbolized through his confident pose with arms crossed.

Executed in oil pastels, the work employs a transition from warm to cool tones to capture the interplay of light and shadow. Varying shades of greens and blues animate Brian’s hoodie, while complementary colors enhance contrast and vibrancy throughout the composition. The figure was constructed with careful attention to structure, proportion, and balance—beginning with basic shapes that were refined through shading and highlights to create depth and realism.

Subtle railroad tracks emerge in the background, reinforcing the title and metaphor of “staying on track.” This symbolic element speaks to the importance of focus and perseverance, aligning with Brian’s personal journey and future ambitions.

Title: Blossom (Commissioned Portrait)
Size: 18 × 24 in.
Date: October 12, 2024
Medium: Oil pastel on mixed media paper

Blossom is a commissioned oil pastel portrait of Dariona Dash, affectionately known as “Blossom.” Inspired by the portrait traditions of John Singer Sargent and lessons from professor Tyrone Geter, the artist approached this work by simplifying the human form into bold, foundational shapes.

The portrait also carries a deeply personal connection. In 2023, following a dislocated hip caused by untreated sports injuries, the artist sought treatment at a stretch therapy clinic where Dariona served as therapist and rehabilitation specialist. Having recently relocated from another state, Dariona became a source of guidance and encouragement, helping the artist regain strength and focus during a challenging period of recovery and transition.

Through layered applications of oil pastel, the work employs a vibrant palette to enrich the subject’s skin tones beyond conventional hues like burnt sienna or umber. By weaving in diverse colors and values, the composition evokes a blossoming effect—capturing not only physical beauty, but also resilience, renewal, and the thriving vitality that defines Dariona’s presence.

                                        Mixed Media

Title: "Rock The Room”

 Medium: Ink pen, Charcoal, Graphite, Scissors , Xacto knife, paper, glue, on paper ( Mixed Media) 

Size: 12 x 14 inches

 Date: November 17, 2025 

Rock the Room is a mixed-media drawing set in a boxing ring during the eighth round, where intensity peaks and the crowd feels the fighters’ presence through flowing, organic linework. The fighters are rendered larger than life to create a sense of gigantism, positioning them as the central spectacle and referencing the historical role of combat as public attraction and cultural theater. Paper cutouts are used for the fighters’ headgear, pants, and the referee, physically integrated into the ring’s connected ropes to anchor the scene in real space. The spectators’ eyes are formed with triangular shapes to exaggerate their panoramic viewpoints, emphasizing collective tension, motion, and raw energy within a single charged moment 

Title: A Different World 

 Medium: Ink pen, Charcoal, Graphite, Scissors , Xacto knife, paper, glue, on paper (Mixed Media) 

Size: 28x 11 inches

 Date: November 17, 2025 

                                        Ink Pen

Title: Flow Like Water 2
Medium: Ink Pen on Mixed Media Paper
Size: 9 x 12 inches
Date: June 3, 2024

This action portrait of Bruce Lee captures him in a state of laser focus, embodying his famous philosophy to “flow like water.” He delivers a lightning-fast body punch, his intense expression reflecting the energy and intent behind the strike.

The artwork freezes Bruce mid-action, emphasizing his level change as he drops weight to deliver greater power. Ink pen is used to highlight muscle flexion in the shoulders and chest, while careful attention to proportion and structure reinforces the human form in motion.

Through a range of values and geometric shapes, the composition conveys speed, tension, and rhythm. Techniques of perspective, foreshortening, and dynamic expression create a cinematic close-up that immerses the viewer in the chaos of combat. A distant figure, Moore, watches the unfolding brawl, adding narrative depth and dramatic tension.

Title: Big Fish
Medium: Ink pen on Mixed Media Paper
Size: 9 x 12 inches
Date: November 8, 2024

This commissioned portrait, Big Fish, depicts a symbolic training session between Coach Pete of Battle Boxing Gym and world champion Errol Spence Jr., known by his nickname “Big Fish.” Drawn with pen on mixed media paper, the composition captures a southpaw sequence—a retreat to create distance, followed by a decisive right hook (“three”) and straight left (“two”).

Using a full value range from 1 to 12, I applied principles of proportion, muscular flexion, and tension to convey the dynamics of movement. Ripples surrounding the gloves emphasize the energy of impact, while an oceanic symbol above their heads represents Spence as the “big fish in the sea,” a metaphor for his dominance in the division.

The portrait unites technical precision with symbolism, reflecting both the artistry of boxing and the triumph of mastery within the sport.

Title: Grateful ( Commission Portrait 

Size: 9x12 inches

Date: June 17th, 2024

Medium: Ink pen on Mixed Media paper

This artwork features "The Showman" Elijah Seawright, a well-known professional boxer from Battle Boxing Gym in Columbia, SC. Recognized as the top boxing gym in South Carolina, it produces some of the best fighters, and Elijah is a prime example of its excellence. He was also my trainer, teaching me the fundamentals of boxing.

In this piece, I chose to focus most of the details on Elijah himself, with minimal emphasis on the background. This approach symbolizes inner growth and focus. The rollerskate on his back foot represents the art of movement—his lightning-fast and smooth footwork that sets him apart.

Boxing requires more than physical skill; it’s a thinking man’s sport. Remaining composed in the ring, sticking to a game plan, and executing it with precision all reflect a Champion Mindset. This piece captures the balance of mental focus and physical grace that defines Elijah as both a fighter and a mentor.

Title: Swaying in Passion
Medium: Ink Pen on Mixed Media Paper
Size: 9 x 12 inches
Date: May 27, 2024

This portrait depicts a former college classmate who went on to become both a professional athlete and a model. Once recognized for her achievements on the track, she now channels that same strength and poise into her modeling career.

The drawing captures her reclining in a hammock, sunlight accentuating her relaxed form. The intricate ink pen details of the hammock netting create a sense of transparency and lightness, while the subtle touch of her toes and the angled positioning of her legs suggest a gentle swaying motion.

This contrast of fluid movement and stillness enhances the elegance of her pose, blending serenity with athletic strength. The result is a harmonious balance of grace, beauty, and quiet power.

Title: The Power of Silence 

Medium: Ink Pen on Mixed Media Paper

 Date: December 27, 2024 

Size: 9 x 12 inches 

This ink pen drawing portrays Israel Adesanya, a professional UFC fighter, and captures his commanding presence inside the cage. Through layered values, I define the human form with careful attention to light and shadow. The highlights emphasize Adesanya’s figure while the contrasting shadows bring forward the intensity of his stance and the energy surrounding him. The suggestion of the crowd and the shifting floor is expressed through varying values, adding rhythm and movement to the composition. 

Title: Devotion
Medium: Ink Pen on Mixed Media Paper
Size: 9 x 12 inches
Date: June 11, 2024

This pen-and-ink portrait depicts my boxing coach, Kevin Brown, and his wife, Kishima Brown, the owners of Battle Boxing Gym in Columbia, SC—widely regarded as the top boxing gym in South Carolina.

I chose to portray them together because their bond represents the strength and dedication that fuel both their family and their business. Their devotion extends beyond training fighters: they mentor at-risk youth, create opportunities for growth, and foster self-development. For them, the gym is not just a place to sharpen skills but a community where champions are built inside and outside the ring.

Kevin and Kishima Brown embody resilience, mentorship, and love, leaving an enduring impact on their community and the sport.