Ebony Thompson Lead Bydesign is an artist from Freetown Sierra Leone, in West Africa. His work is usually in earth tone colors on canvas or illustration board. He has used his art to communicate the ebb and flow of the Africa diaspora’s experiences at home and America. His art also communicate his position on social issues that affects people of African descent. His intent is to stimulate thought and initiate dialogue as you view his work.

He specializes in the use of oil pastels, and has developed a unique technique of using various solvents to improve the fluidity of oil pastels. in some of his works he has been able to merge pastels, oil paint sticks, acrylics and paint pencils on canvas to create appealing and sometimes challenging art. Expressing the transitional effects of light on his images has become his signature.

He enjoys bringing images out of darkness into light which some people have attributed as a parallel to his life in Freetown and United States. His art has been exhibited in the Contemporary Art Fair at the Jacob Javits Center, as well as various art galleries throughout the U.S.