Chicago, IL – Rob C. Owens is a self-taught portrait artist who has crafted his own unique artistic style: photo-realistic pencil portraits and oil paintings of historically significant icons.

“I try to do things that people can connect with,” says Owens. “What I try to do with my artwork is paint people everyone is familiar with for nostalgia and to get in touch with their character.”

His photorealistic portraits of Prince, President Barack Obama, Malcolm X, Bob Marley and Billie Holiday have won him great acclaim.

Owens comes from a family of artists. Growing up, he admired his mother’s uncanny artistic abilities, discovering his own gifts at the age of six.

Born and raised in Chicago, the city’s influence can be found throughout Owens’s work.

“I absolutely love Chicago. I've been all over the world, but I haven't been anywhere like my hometown,” says Owens. “Ultimately as an artist, I want to tell a story of things that people may not necessarily know. I want people to share a better understanding of my city through our iconography. Chicago is not its crime and violence. Chicago is Michael Jordan, Obama, Oprah.”

Owens’s painting of Obama is actually the only oil painting he’s held on to for personal reasons.

“That wasn’t a commission,” recalls Owens. “Being of African-American descent, the first black president was a major thing, and I was motivated to capture him in that moment.”

Owens is a firefighter, a therapist, but being a professional artist is his true passion.

“My goal and my legacy, what I'm really trying to do, is leave something positive for the generations of people that come after me,” says Owens.

For more information, visit www.rcoartistry.com

Close Up Radio Spotlights Rob C. Owens Artistry

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