California
Christina Ramos, The Protector, acrylic, 24 x 30.
WHEN ASKED why she loves to paint people, Christina Ramos briefly ponders the question. Then, definitively, the figurative artist says, “It’s the soul. People have soul.” The young star in Ramos’ winning entry, THE PROTECTOR, caught her eye with her almond-shaped eyes and dyed-silver hair. The woman’s “beautiful, unusual look” prompted the artist to ask if she’d pose for her in a photo shoot. “I wanted to project her as an independent, strong female character,” says Ramos.
In THE PROTECTOR, the artist portrays her tough-looking model clutching a rifle. As an afterthought, she added the timid coyote at the woman’s side. “As opposed to the gun being seen as a weapon, I wanted it to be a form of strength, of protection, so I put the coyote in there,” says Ramos, noting that, now, the woman represents a guardian of wildlife rather than a hunter. “In California, there’s been this encroachment of wild animals,” explains the Golden State native. “I feel bad for them; they don’t have anywhere to go. This was their homeland first.”
Ramos teaches painting at the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, where she herself studied. “It’s a masters-technique-driven school, so it’s an oddity I teach there because I paint in acrylics,” says the self-described realist, who spent years refining her technique to achieve the look of oil painting. Today people often do mistake her acrylics for oils. “My favorite painting book is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell,” says Ramos. “It’s not about art or painting, but about being good at something.” The secret? “It’s called the 10,000-hours rule,” she says. “Anything you put 10,000 hours into, you’ll be good at.” Find the artist’s work at www.christinaramosart.com. —Kim Agricola
This story was featured in the December 2019/January 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2019/January 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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