Meet Donté Stokes | Fine Artist, Painter & Illustrator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Donté Stokes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Donté, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I truly believe the two most important factors behind my brand are my supporters & my limitless mindset. My supporters whom are family, friends, friends of friends, some I never even met in real life are truly incredible. I always recall a time in my life where I didn’t even have the confidence to believe in myself. So now to have so many different people genuinely supporting me, it truly means the world. I don’t take the love for granted at all! As far as my limitless point of view, that’s something that’s been with me since a kid. Growing up I watched my mom overcome so many things that the average person would have folded in a second. She beat the odds so many times. So I think since I’ve seen her overcome so much while raising three kids, with certain conditions, etc. There’s nothing I can’t do. I always keep that mindset. Really all of the woman in my family, specifically my grandmother’s who played a big part in raising me are so resilient. And that’s what’s pretty much stuck with me from the beginning! As far as my art career, years later I still haven’t found a thing I can’t create or a style I can’t adapt to. So I guess it has gotten me pretty far. Thank God!

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I believe one thing that’s sets me apart is my love and capabilities for multiple forms of art & art styles. I love painting, illustrating, & designing equally and I think I’m pretty good at them. Currently I’m most excited to show off my 1st complete collection titled “All That He Can Be”. It derived from a somewhat dark place but I think the outcome has been so beautiful. The year of 2022 was so draining for me and I lost so many people. At a point it was almost every month one person was passing. After a while I myself just didn’t feel alive anymore. I kept myself going by really just throwing myself in my art. I did so many shows, interviews, live paintings. After a while I began to feel burnt out so that’s when I knew I needed to take a break and actually feel what I was going through. So many times as men we get told we’re not supposed to have sad days or be in your feelings. At the end of the day we are still human & what comes your way has to be dealt with otherwise it just lingers and grief will become you. With that being said during my downtime this body of work came about from one of my journal entries. Not only is this my first complete body of work. It’s my first creations in a very long time that I felt connected to on a personal level. So I’m really looking foward to sharing this and discovering different reactions. Faith is absolutely how I got where I am today and how I’m going to get where I’ll go in the future. One thing that people may not know about me is my strong sense of faith. Which my beautiful grandmother Carolyn installed in me at a very young age. Life can be very challenging especially in the days we live in today. It has never been easy and it probably will never be, anything worth having comes with a challenge. For me specifically i work better under pressure or within a challenge anyway. So while something may be hard or uncomfortable at first sight, I’ve grown to realize if i keep at it im going to kill it. I want the world to know more specifically young black creatives, that there are absolutely no limits in life. You will come across so many No’s and so many people projecting their fears and there limits on you. Just have tunnel vision & never stop being on GO. Reach heights, never reach limits!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
One of my favorite things about ATL is definitely the food joints. So we would for sure do a lot of eating. A couple of restaurants I would go to are south city kitchen, Hattie B’s, El rey del taco, little rey. Also alot of people up north never been or don’t get to try one of my favorite fast food spots Zaxby’s. I’m really big on brunch so we would definitely have to throw in Abc chicken and waffles. The waffle flight there is so good! We would definitely attend some of the staple places. Skyview, stone mountain, underground Atlanta, Lennox mall, & the aquarium.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to dedicate this feature to everyone of my grandmother’s. Throughout my lifetime I was fortunate enough to meet 6 of my grandmother’s including greats. They are my heart! They all individually see me for me. I owe them the world! A couple of them are now my angels but we are still very connected! As far as books I always credit alot of my personal growth to The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. I first read this book around 2016 and it completely changed my life as well as my way of thinking. My Alma mater North Carolina A&T also deserves major credit in my development as an artist. To be surrounded by so much talent, African American talent at that was truly an incredible experience. My professor’s were also very encouraging and knowledgeable. Some of the best memories still are the all nighters in the art department!

Website: https://dtsunlimited.myshopify.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dts.unlimited?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dtstokes?mibextid=nW3QTL

Other: Tiktok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZT8jweMUF/