“Uncle Reggie by Reginald O’Neal is an oil painting on canvas. It measures approximately four and half feet tall by three feet wide. It is in portrait orientation, meaning that its shortest side runs parallel to the ground. In Uncle Reggie, O’Neal portrays his namesake relative, depicting him from behind at a three-quarter angle. Uncle Reggie’s body is centered on the canvas, his face looking away towards the left. Only the upper half of his torso is featured, with his back almost fully turned towards the viewer. He wears a plain white t-shirt and his hair is styled with dreadlocks that are pulled back into a ponytail reaching down to his mid back. The background of the painting is covered in washes of dark earthy brown, matching the color of the subject’s skin. So much so that Uncle Reggie’s skin and features appear almost indistinguishable from the background itself, as if he were dissolving into the space of the picture. However, despite the dark muted colors of the background, he appears to glow with a light that beams downwards from above. The beam of light creates a stark contrast against his white t-shirt, as Uncle Reggie’s head casts a creamy bluish gray shadow onto his back. The texture of his dreadlocks is highlighted with light chestnut brushstrokes. This light color traces along the tip of his nose up to his brow and forehead before finally sweeping across the crown of his head and trailing the hair down his back. The rest of Uncle Reggie’s features are in shadow, painted softly. His left cheek and brow capture a bit of reflected light, and are quietly distinguished with a reddish brown that is just a hint lighter than the background. Appearing almost as if the subject were at a distance, formed in the space of a memory. “