Riddick, Ron
Artist Ron Riddick was born and raised in sunny Santa Monica, California. He was the son of an art
director at Prudential Insurance—so he had access to the tools of commercial
art. While in high school, he took the extra challenge of night classes at the
Los Angeles Art Center and College of Design, where he found that he was quick
to pick up both classic and new techniques in continuing to improve his skills.
He then left school to work in a printmaking atelier, but it wasn’t until he
began to study with Russian artist Sergei Bongart that he was truly inspired.
He says of Bongart “I sensed something in Bongart I lacked: the gift of
painting from the heart and spirit. But Sergei did more than instruct me in
painting. He shared his love of music, literature, poetry, nature, life and
showed me the historic connections.” Bongart was not the only artistic
influence in Ron’s life—his work is often compared favorably to John Singer
Sargent. He has the same ability to capture on canvas and paper the personality