The influences of the alluring locales of his travels have informed the eye of the phenomenon who is Tyson Snow. Enchanted by the aboriginal peoples of Africa and Australia, his able hand captures the human spirit of the indigenous peoples who are the object of his fascination. A multi-facetted talent, Snow commenced his career in industrial design, as an illustrator and formal portrait artist, and is deftly skilled in sculpture as well. Renowned for nuanced white-on-black figurative renderings of people and animals, his reputation for delicate pen-and-ink interpretations of old-world ecclesiastical architecture is spreading. Snow works strikingly in reverse—from dark to light—and creates masterpieces. “I start with the highlights to establish the lightest values and use a very sharp, white pencil,” he says, making the accomplishment sound easy. “Then I begin turning the form, using less pressure with the same pencil to create lighter or darker values, as I move away from the highlights.” Snow’s method requires painstakingly slow, careful work, especially in the early stages. But the white-on-black medium gives almost instant gratification because the stark-white pencil on the flat, black background gives immediate, lightning-like contrast. “I attempt to capture an individual’s very essence and present this to the viewer almost as though I were introducing him or her personally,” Snow says. “I attempt to tell my subjects’ stories through their faces, especially their eyes, and give them breath.” All these elements, surroundings, costumes, faces and, indeed, souls, lend life to his work.