Kadir Nelson

Kadir Nelson began drawing at age 3, displaying artistic acumen before he could even write or spell. "I have always been an artist," Nelson explains. "It's part of my DNA." At age eleven, Kadir Nelson was apprenticed by his uncle, an artist and an art instructor. "My uncle gave me my foundation in art," says the artist. Kadir experimented with several different mediums and later began painting in oils at age sixteen under the encouragement and tutelage of his uncle and his high school art teacher.

Many of Kadir Nelson's paintings can be found in the private collections of actors, sports figures and musicians including Debbie Allen, Jalen Rose, Spike Lee, Terry Lewis, Venus Williams, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith and Ice Cube. His paintings have also decorated the sets of television sitcoms "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and "The Jamie Foxx Show," as well as feature films "Friday" and "Set it Off." Most notably, Nelson was the "Conceptual Artist" for Steven Spielberg's feature film, "Amistad," and the animated feature "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron."
 

Source: Kadir Nelson Artwork