Dr. Renel Gomez Padron

Dr. Renel Gómez Padrón is both a student and a master. Experienced in acrylic, tempera and watercolor painting, he focused on oils for 30 years, using realistic style techniques. Today, his brush has been traded for a Bic ballpoint pen, and realistic absolutely describes this master’s style.

Renel’s interesting story begins with his parents, who encouraged him as a child by buying him paints and brushes. Born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, the country’s tenth-largest city, Renel was taking courses in drawing and painting by the time he was 10 years old at the House of Culture, in the Province of Las Tunas. For two years, the renowned Cuban artist Francisco Villamil mentored him in Havana and, during the 1990s, several of Renel’s paintings were exhibited in galleries in the Cuban capital.

After moving to Indianapolis, Renel continued his study of art in interesting ways. He says, “Art is a powerful tool that can transform our lives and our surroundings. I believe that supporting artists is a commendable path and it’s why, in addition to being an artist, I also collect art. I’m motivated and inspired by visiting museums, galleries, online art accounts, and artists,” he said. “I talk to and interview artists in their studios. I read books, magazines and any art materials.” Then he puts those studies to good use.

“I now work with a Bic ballpoint pen,” he said, “and have focused on this technique since 2022.” Juan Francisco Casas, a Spanish artist, photographer and poet, and London-based artist James Mylne, are prolific ballpoint illustrators. Both have inspired Renel’s work, and he says “I’ve received rave reviews from James Mylne, one of the world’s best.”

Today, the student has mastered a new medium. Beginning by creating a sketch with a graphite pencil, “I then use the Bic pen to refine and complete the piece,” he says. His lifelike work requires skill and mastery of ink to create shading, and Renel says, “I was drawn to this because few artists do this work. The process from start to finish in each drawing takes between eight and 20 hours.”

Of his most recent series, entitled “footwear,” Renel says, “No one draws shoes with a Bic pen.” Each piece is drawn with precision, on 150-300-gram paper. Bic pens offer a variety of colors, and Renel sometimes embellishes his work with color but, largely, it’s black-and-white with his intricate hand-drawn lines creating every shade of gray.

Like all of his work, each is an original, demonstrating exceptional technical qualities. Even standing in front of a finished piece, the detail is so exact that the work can be confused with photography.