Gustavo Ramos grew up in Brazil and, at age 15, moved with his family to the United States. Not knowing English when he arrived in Arizona, he relied on observing body language in order to communicate. Watching and observing the movements and mannerisms of people inspired him to portray figures by illustrating them 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.” Ramos has had his oil paintings exhibited at renowned venues such as, the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Sotheby's in New York City.