In "Untitled", Holmes renders the face of a young Black man emerging from a morning glory bloom. Morning glories, which bloom briefly each day, become a metaphor for fleeting beauty, resilience, and the cyclical nature of life. Around him, the curling trumpet flowers and dark foliage envelop the figure in a surreal, protective embrace. Holmes uses the surreal to elevate his subject, giving visual form to interiority — particularly that of Black men, too often denied tenderness in representation.

In "The Gambler", Holmes presents a seated Black man cloaked in a luxurious fur coat, his quiet, contemplative gaze meeting ours across a darkened interior. Beside him stands a proud rooster—a recurring motif in Holmes’ visual language, which evokes themes of resilience, masculinity, and ancestral strength. Holmes' brushwork remains tactile and expressive, while the composition’s psychological weight draws from both vernacular portraiture and the history of American realism. The deep, velvety background and chiaroscuro lighting recall classical painting traditions, but here, reclaimed through a distinctly Southern Black lens.