2. Exploration

5. Staying on Course

Since the summer of 2012, I continued my training with Heeyoung Kim, a multi-award winning artist and a great teacher.  The next two renditions with graphite on paper were presented at the Botanical Art School of the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2013. The third is also graphite on paper.                                       
                                                   

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                                   

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                                                                      

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                     
White Orchids - colored pencil on white paper

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

Chestnuts from a farm in Piedmont, Italy
Colored pencil on white paper

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

A trio of Autumn leaves
Colored pencil on white paper
                                                                                               

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                        

                                                      

4. My Education Begins

I am fortunate to live close the Chicago Botanic Garden in the northern suburbs of Chicago.  Among the courses in botanic art offered there I took courses on botanical drawing, graphite powder painting and pastel by a wonderful teacher: Marlene Hill Donnelly. I also took Pen and Ink with another great teacher and artist: Derek Norman. This period deepened my appreciation for nature.

These are images from this period.  The nest 5 images are rendered with graphite on white paper.  The three leaves were presented at the Botanic Art Student Show on October 2011 as "The Soul of Leaves."  The fourth image is an exercise in the management of light.

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

  


                                

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                        

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                   

A tomatillo on tracing paper. It offered the opportunity and the challenge to draw both in the front and the back of the paper. I also explored writing next to the images. This is an example of the riddle

                                                

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

What is inside?

Tell me the secret!

Is it a cricket?

Perhaps a snail?

An armadillo?

Open the veil!...

Wow! A tomatillo.

As part of the course in pastel I painted these avocados. Although my exposure to this media was brief, it was enough to convince me of its enormous appeal. This image and the next were presented at the 10th Annual Juried Art Show of the Northbrook Public Library in Northbrook, Illinois, on October 2012    

©Ramiro Prudencio MD  (2012)

                                                 

                      " Calabazas " ( Pumpkins )  Colored pencil on white paper.

 

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                      
Graphite powder painting was a revelation but it took time, patience and persistence. For this painting I copied and enlarged the image of an ancient Egyptian statue from an issue on Cleopatra presented by the National Geographic Magazine.

  

                                                             

3. Growth

Since 2006 to 2010 I began creating my own images.  This was a big step first in overcoming my fears, and taking full responsibility for the product, learning the value of composition, space, balance, the nuances of color, and the ever present interplay of light and shadow.

As a gift to my wife, on Valentine's Day in 2006 I painted this real life hibiscus painted on white paper with colored pencils. The inscription in Spanish reads "To the best flower in my garden -
Her Gardener"

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

The following 2 images responded to my curiosity about depicting silver and my interest in reflecting surfaces. They are rendered in colored pencil. I inherited the silver pieces from my mother so I am particularly attached to them. The dark background, also in colored pencil, highlights the brightness and shine of the metal.

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                    

                                                 

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                


"Queen of the Night" (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) is a tropical cactus that blooms at dusk, produces copious amounts of pollen and a strong aroma to attract bats for pollination and wilts next morning. The cutting is from my cousin's patio. I used only colored pencils on white paper. The white of the petals represents the color of the paper; the dark background was essential to brighten them and  show transparent hues of violet, pink and green as it was also helpful for highlighting dew drops. 

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                         


At this time I felt the urge to try my hand in portraiture with colored pencils. This is my granddaughter Xiomara, age 3, from a photograph on the beach in Mexico. There must have been an appreciable resemblance to her because she recognized herself when I gave her the painting as a birthday gift.

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                    


I was attracted to the variety of colors of bell peppers I came across at a farmers market.  This painting was also with colored pencils on white paper. I called it "Pimentones"  ( bell peppers ) and  presented it at the Botanical Art Student Exhibition at Chicago's Botanic Garden in 2012.


Pimentones (2012)

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                         

1. How It Began

Retirement from 25 years of medical practice and time.  Forgotten in a drawer, I discovered a set of colored pencils.  It was summer and my garden was inviting. I had an earlier start in drawing when as a youngster I took to sketching my horses. Between colored and acquarelles I created the images I illustrate below. They are reflections of my surroundings and my first attempts into art

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

 















 
                                                                                                              

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

                                                                                            

        

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

©Ramiro Prudencio MD

©Ramiro Prudencio MD