Share:

About Ernest

Baltimore City Station North AE District
“An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are.” 

-James Baldwin

The journey to self-discovery lasts a lifetime. That journey is the cornerstone of Ernest Shaw’s artistic and  educational practice. Ernest was born in 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland during the Black Arts and Black Power movements. These movements have had and continue to have a lasting impact on his life and work.

As a Baltimore based artist, Ernest’s work… more

See $40,000 Mary Sawyers Imboden Prize Winning Portfolio
See $2,500 Baker Artist Award Winning Portfolio
View Ernest's Resume
Jump to a project:

The Portrait

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter." - Oscar Wilde
  • Kifwebe 1
    Kifwebe 1
    Kifwebe 60"x40" Acrylic 2019
  • Senufo 2 copy.jpg
    Senufo 2 copy.jpg
    Senufo 2 60"x48" Mixed media 2020
  • Crossing Gods copy.jpg
    Crossing Gods copy.jpg
    Crossing Gods 72"x48" Mixed Media 2020
  • Baldwin
    Baldwin
  • Jamal copy.jpg
    Jamal copy.jpg
    Jamal 72"x36" Acrylic 2020
  • Ibeji
    Ibeji
    Ibeji 60"x48" Acrylic 2018
  • Mother to Son copy 2.jpg
    Mother to Son copy 2.jpg
    Portrait of Langston Hughes 30"x20" 72.6x50.8cm Mixed Media 2021
  • Where There's Smoke
    Where There's Smoke
    30"x20" Mixed Media 2022
  • Soyinka
    Soyinka
    30"x20" Mixed Media 2022
  • Self Portrait.jpg
    Self Portrait.jpg
    Self Portrait 60"x48" 152.4x121.92cm Mixed Media 2021
    •

    • Drawings

    “Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see – to see correctly – and that means a good deal more than merely looking with the eye.” – Kimon Nicolaides
    • George Stinney
      George Stinney
      George S. 38"x50" Charcoal 2019
    • Student
      Student
      50"x38" Charcoal On Paper
    • Ebony
      Ebony
    • Ebony2
      Ebony2
    • Student 2
      Student 2
      50"x38" Charcoal On Paper
    • Hooded
      Hooded
      Hooded 30"x22" Charcoal 2019
    • Eve (Masked)
      Eve (Masked)
      Masked 30"x22" Graphite 2016
    • Mask Fang
      Mask Fang
      22"x30" Graphite
    • George
      George
      George Digital Drawing 2020
    • Untitled
      Untitled
      30"x22" Graphite and Paint Maker 2021
    •

    • Murals

    “Don’t have much to say that wouldn’t look better on a wall.” - BiP
    • Yemaya
      Yemaya
      Mural painted in Cali, Colombia 28'x8'
    • Yemaya 1
      Yemaya 1
      Mural Painted at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA for Wonderroot. 60'x25'
    • Penn-North, Baltimore
      Penn-North, Baltimore
      Sankofa
    • ToniM.jpg
      ToniM.jpg
      Toni Morrison Graffiti Alley
    • Roy.jpg
      Roy.jpg
      Roy Hargrove Graffiti Alley
    • Rochester, NY
      Rochester, NY
      Hendricks
    • East Bmore
      East Bmore
    • Monk
      Monk
    • Park and North (Baltimore,MD)
      Park and North (Baltimore,MD)
      Murals painted for the Bolton Hill community.
    • North and Collington (East Baltimore)
      North and Collington (East Baltimore)
      Painted in tribute to Pontella Mason.
    •