EK
Gabriel Riego de Dios
GABRIEGO
Gabriel never had any formal instruction in the fine arts. His talent is but a natural God-given gift which he thinks was handed down form his artist grandmother (Chinese brush painting), father (watercolor seascapes), and mother (portraits in oil.) In fact, most members of his close family are either artists or musicians. The earliest he could think of handling a pencil or brush was at the age of four.
Gaby as he is fonldy called, graduated with Bachelor of Science in General Engineering from the Philippine Military Academy, a premier military institution dubbed as the "West Point of Asia." People usually ask him questions on how he became an artist when in fact he comes from a military background in training and discipline. According to him, once born an artist, an artist you will be in whatever form or career you get in life. The years spent in the plains and mountains of southern Philippines as a soldier even further stoked his passion to express his native talent. The landscape scenery was just too overwhelming that he often brought his watercolors and camera wherever he went, no matter how dangerous or critical the situation was then.
As a cadet at the
Philippine Military Academy
Known as GABRIEGO in the art world, he does most everything from landscapes, florals, still life, abstracts, to portraits. He also paints using various mediums from oil, acrylic, and watercolor, depending on how he feels a certain composition should go ... depending on his mood, that is!
Gabriego has attended workshops by the well-known colorist Michael Linstrom, whom he considers the influence to his colorist background. Bob Gerbracht, a master portraitist and memtor, is his inspiration in portraiture which he considers as a painting skill to refine and master.
Gaby is also a musician. He plays the guitar and had early stints playing jazz on trumpet. And to complete the whole balance, he is also a life-time practitioner of Shotokan Karate, a Japanese traditional martial art, of which he is a part-time instructor.
As a soldier in the mountains of southern Philippines