Khaleel was born and raised in Germantown, Philadelphia. Khaleel grew up creating art from a very young age. His inspiration for art came from a love of comic books and superheroes. He comes from a family of artists, and was inspired by the art of his father and uncles. Khaleel enjoys painting with acrylics and taking on the challenge of making it look like oil. He takes pleasure in creating realistic, fantastical, and surrealist illustrations and paintings. When Khaleel is not painting, he carves abstract images of faces and bodies from raw wood that he finds in Philadelphia parks. Wood carving was taught to him by his father and his uncles, an art that he is currently teaching to his own sons. Khaleel attended the High School for Creative And Performing Arts in Philadelphia for visual arts. After graduating, he earned his BFA degree in illustration from The School Of Visual Arts in New York City. Later, he earned his Art Certification in Education from Arcadia University. Currently, he is a working artist and Lower School Art Teacher at Germantown Friends School. Khaleel introduces his students to Aboriginal Dot art, Miro, African Masks, Picasso, and Basquiat.