Luster Willis was born in Hinds County near Terry, Mississippi and moved to Copiah County where he lived all his life, except for the three years he spent in Europe during World War II. He had been drawing and painting since he was a child.

"I don't have any particular person or object in mind. I just draw something that I have on my mind and then after I get it all painted out, then whatever it favors most, why then that's the name I apply to it. And then other times I'll sketch something particular that runs across my mind, and I see if I can paint it . . . I can look at one of my pictures and it brings back to mind many things that have happened over the years. I draw from life to emphasize it,...