UT student wows Bruce Pearl with his portraits

In the living room of his small college apartment, 21-year-old Carl Hess creates a makeshift studio for painting portraits. It's a craft he began when he was in elementary school.

His teacher recognized his talent, and inspired him to attend a special arts college to hone his skills. By his sophomore year in high school, Carl had successfully painted his very first portrait. It was a painting of himself

"I was pretty shocked, pretty amazed, that I could do something so great," Carl says. "If I could paint myself, I could paint anyone."

With the success surrounding the UT men's basketball team, Carl decided to paint portraits of the team's graduating seniors.

"I did a painting of Jordan, JaJuan, and Chris Lofton."

One day, Pearl spotted Carl's painting of Lofton.

"He was walking by and saw it and said, 'I want it right now. Five hundred dollars, I'll give it to you right now.'" Carl couldn't give Pearl the painting because it was to be auctioned off at the men's basketball banquet. The Lofton, JaJuan Smith, and Jordan Howell paintings sold for thousands of dollars.

Carl promised Pearl that he would paint him his very own custom portrait. So Pearl requested a six foot portrait.

"He said him in the middle, just make him bold, look very good, and put his players on the side of him," Carl says.

Lofton, Dane Bradshaw, CJ Watson, and Tyler Smith are the four players surrounding Pearl.

Carl hopes his portraits will open the door for him to paint big name celebrities. The first on his list is a portrait of Barak Obama.

"I'm actually planning to meet Obama this summer and give it to him," he says. "I'm hoping to blow his socks away."

"I'm hoping it will go right in the presidential White House," Carl says.

For more information on Carl Hess' portraits visit his website at www.chessartworld.com.