NEWBERRY — Anyone who walks around Downtown Newberry may notice a mural on Tiny Paris (Caldwell Street). This piece of art was created by 28-year-old Ricardo Ramirez.
Ramirez, a New York native, said he started getting into art at a young age.
“I remember being in school and instead of paying attention, I found myself drawing in my notebooks…to my teacher’s dismay. I found art and drawing captivated me more than many other things,” he said. “This is what I wanted to do, it was always art, it was always creating. I think that has definitely made its way into my adult life, I never lost the desire to create to make anything.”
Ramirez’s first creation was of his mother, he said it started after he got in trouble and was sent to his room.
“As a way to make amends, I decided to draw a picture of her. I quickly learned the mistake in this, after I was done drawing, I held it up and it looked so bad, looked nothing like her,” Ramirez said laughing. “I did not give it to her and stayed in my room grounded.”
That was the first piece he remembered drawing.
When it comes to style and inspiration Ramirez thought hard and said he likes to create art based on what grabs his attention.
“There is so much out there that tries to grab your attention to sell you something. If art can do it for more wholesome or thought provoking, that’s the kind of art I like to make,” he said.
Simply put, Ramirez likes to create art that he likes to make.
“I think way before you put pen to paper it is just observing, just looking, noticing unique features in people, maybe different poses, differing buildings. Just be observant, just look,” he said. “From there, the things that stand out when you are looking, that make interesting subject matter to make a piece. Not just nature, different T.V. shows, directing shots, comic books, anything — if I like it, that is where I start.”
One of Ramirez’s pieces is that of a rooster, inspired after spending time with his friend, Sergio, who has chickens.
“Being raised in the city, I was not exposed to farm life, never saw a chicken up close until he took me to meet his chickens,” he said. “Sergio shows me his rooster, he held him up and the way the light hit the feathers, I saw all these colors, greens, purples, the colors moved in the sunlight; I thought it was amazing that something ordinary has extraordinary characteristics. It all comes from being observant.”
Ramirez added that there is a lot that can be done with something normally overlooked. He said if you take a look at something long enough, a grain of interest is already there. For example, Ramirez started creating art following a coffee stain.
“I was working on my computer, put my coffee cup on a piece of paper, it left a coffee ring and it held my attention. I thought, you could do something with a stain and coffee, something unartistic you can do something neat with. I created art from what the coffee stain said to do, one was spaghetti and the other was a fox,” he said. “I used a pen (to create the other side) and then got better shadows using the coffee, I layered the coffee with the watercolor brush.”
When it comes to his art style, Ramirez said he was inspired by the late Roy Lichtenstein, an American pop artist.
“He is one of my favorite artists, he broke the norm. He would take pictures of comics and blow them up (before computers) and paint it. I watched a video about him, he was nervous and talking to an artist friend, he didn’t know if it was art and the friend said it didn’t matter, art doesn’t have boundaries,” Ramirez said.
This inspiration led Ramirez to create a canvas painting based on Lichtenstein’s work.
“During school, I got into comic books and that is when I really got into art, the stories are great but the images really captivated me, heavy black lines, graphic style of the artwork. That’s what I want to do, that’s me,” he said.
Professionally, Ramirez uses Octopus Ink has his handle and he said the name was invented by his wife, Emily, when they were dating.
“I told her I wanted to start this business, I couldn’t come up with a name. She asked me my favorite animal and I said octopus. I get a call that same day and she said Octopus Ink and that was a pretty cool name,” he said.
While creating his work, Ramirez said he uses pen, pencil and paper, however, after a couple of years, he bought a drawing tablet.
“Buying that opened up a world of possibilities, may be expensive to create on a canvas, but with a tablet doing it digitally, there is no limit to your imagination,” he said.
To see more of Ramirez, check out www.octopusinkcreative.com or on Instagram.
Reach Andrew Wigger @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.
