ALI’s 1961 underwater photo shoot was so impressive to me. Especially, learning that he couldn’t swim at the time! The will of the Champ!

I used color pencil and pastel to give depth to the piece on a cork canvas. I wrote some of Ali’s inspirational quotes in the water flow.

Quotes used:

“…he took a few cups of love. He took one tablespoon of patience, one tablespoon of generosity, one pint of kindness; he took one quart of laughter, one piece of concern, and then he mixed willingness with happiness. He added lots of faith, and he stirred it up well. Then he spread it and expanded it over a lifetime. And he served each and every deserving person he met.”

“What keeps me going is goals.” “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” “Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do – they all contain truths.”

“Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” “The greatest of all time.” “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”

“I’m so fast, man, I can run through a hurricane and don’t get wet.”