PicsArt Year in Review: 2015 Dec. 2015 | Page 81

AMBITION 76 RAUL’S STYLE Raul’s style is rooted in his extensive experience creating art in a diverse range of physical mediums. His hyperrealistic portraits incorporate a bold use of subject matter and color. F or years, Raul Ramirez has expressed himself visually through a variety of artistic mediums. From pencil drawings to airbrushing, wood burning, and engraving on glass and metal, each new medium brought with it a new challenge and a new perspective. Yet it is only recently that he has entered the digital realm. This transition, he says, has allowed him to master new graphic techniques, including drawing with layers, adding depth and an expressive capacity to his drawings. He is now experimenting with colors in his art, something he had not previously considered, as he had always been drawing in black and white. He feels himself slowly opening up to, in his words, “a whole new world.” The desire to push himself as a creator extends to all aspects of his life, particularly to his role as a parent. The ambition to challenge himself—regardless of outside influences—is what drives him to create.