Darrell Cruse is a visual artist born in Evanston, Illinois and raised on Chicago's South Side. He discovered his love for art during childhood, drawing pictures of characters from animated series such Dragon Ball Z, The Boondocks, and Batman. He would take this hobby and channel it into learning portraiture at Morgan Park High School. While pursuing a BFA at the University of Missouri, he sought to perfect his drawing skills by starting a portrait series titled Improving Craft Portraits. Along with this series, Darrell's time at Mizzou allowed him to learn how to use various traditional 2D media such as colored pencil, chalk pastel, oil pastel, and oil paint to create conceptual bodies of work that bring together his love for color theory, portraiture, and music.