Charles Riley III was born and raised on the westside of St. Louis, Missouri. As a child, he would spend countless hours drawing and coloring with his siblings when he wasn’t playing organized baseball and basketball. It wasn’t until his Senior year at Gateway Institute of Technology, where he would tap back into his artistry and take an elective art class where he would sketch tattoo designs for his peers, in-between assignments. Charles went on to pursue a college degree in Construction Management until being offered a promotion to Supervisor at the job he was working in lieu of obtaining his degree.

In 2016, while in-between jobs, his then fiancée asked him if he had ever tried painting before and brought home some canvases and painting supplies, which would be his first time in 9 years experimenting with acrylic. As time went on, he continuously worked on his craft in his free-time, all while managing a warehouse in St. Louis, before moving to the north Dallas, Texas area. Early 2022 is when Charles decided to dedicate his time and energy into his true passion of painting and birthed CRtistry.

As an artist, C. Riley has a passion for sports, music and pop culture with the concept of realism using acrylic medium on canvas.