Medium of Choice: Oil
"I first came across Trekell as a college student when I heard one of my favorite artists talk about their quality materials. When I finally got to try them out myself, I understood what the hype was all about. This is a company that cares about their artists and makes supplies that really get the job done. It's nice working with brushes that are reliable and let you put down marks just how you want, and Trekell brushes do just that. I particularly like their Legion series for thick applications and for rich edges. The Sienna and Crimson Taklon are also great for when you need that extra control and nuance. Their brush cleaning and restoring supplies have kept my brushes in good shape for years. I feel honored to be teaming up with them!"
Featured in Southwest Art Magazine's "Artist to Watch: The Editor's Choice for Up-and-Coming Talent"
As a young boy growing up in Brazil, Gustavo Ramos loved to draw, but a fine-art career wasn’t even a notion in his mind. Then, when he was 15, Ramos moved with his family to the United States. The change was startling for the teenager, who didn’t know any English when he arrived at his new high school in Arizona. “I had to depend a lot on observing body language when trying to communicate” Ramos recalls now, a decade later.
It proved to be a seminal time for the budding artist, whose careful observations of people’s expressions, gesticulations, and postures motivated him to depict the figure in pencil. “It gave me an edge in depicting those subtle bodily gestures that help tell a story,” he says. Determined to paint like the old masters, Ramos exclusively worked from life during his training. Now, when using reference photographs he has taken of his models, says Ramos, “I can conceptualize form. I’m able to look at the flat surface of a painting and picture space inside that surface.”
At 26, the Phoenix-area artist is already snapping up top accolades for his sensitive, contemporary portrayals of the figure in oil. In works like INFINITY—a painting starring his wife that touches on the mystery of life after death and the concept of eternity—he has been exploring storytelling techniques that convey more than just someone’s likeness. For guidance, he often studies Rembrandt van Rijn’s evocative portraits. “Rembrandt created the sense of a real person who had real experiences,” says Ramos. “That’s something I try to do with my work.” —Kim Agricola
Southwest Art, March/April 2020 issue
Artist Links: Website, Instagram
GUSTAVO'S PICKS:
Legion Long Grainers
Crimson Taklon Rounds
Sienna Rounds
