Marvin H. McMillian II grew up in Oakland, California. 

Marvin expressed an interest in art at an early age. He remembers being in his high chair, drawing on his

brother and Sister's homework assignments until his mother reprimanded him and gave him brown Paper bags to draw on.

Marvin received his education at The Renaissance Art School. Here, Marvin was allowed the freedom to express his creativity in art.

After graduating high school, he was accepted into the California College of Arts & Crafts.

In 1989, Marvin started a productive art-related business. However, he continued to take

Art classes. One of Marvin’s former art professors, David P. Bradford, enlightened him about fine art.

With encouragement from Mr. Bradford, Marvin started doing various Shows (solo and group exhibits).

Marvin's artistic ideas come from the community where he lives and travels abroad.

The Louvre Museum in Paris is one of his favorite places to visit because several master artists'

paintings reside there, and studying various paintings inspires him to spend countless hours perfecting his pieces.

Marvin's painting process differs from other artists because he paints in solitude early in the morning or late at night.

With no distractions and most of the world asleep, Marvin focuses on the task. Apart from his process, he’ll

have gathered his reference materials such as magazine articles, newspaper clippings, or digital photographs taken

on his phone.

Marvin likes incorporating African American figures into his paintings since there is little representation

of them in art history. Most of the time, African Americans are not depicted positively. They’re usually cast as a slave

or servant hidden in the background. Marvin believes that his job is to bring the hidden figure to the forefront and celebrate

the contributions made by African Americans in this Country. Each painting is approached differently depending

on the subject matter. Marvin’s medium of choice is mostly oil paint and acrylic.

Marvin studied at two prestigious art colleges in the Bay Area. California College of Arts and Crafts and The Academy

of Art College in San Francisco.