My name is Ricardo Zuniga and I’m currently incarcerated at TDCJ in AD-SEG. My hobby is Drawing all kinds of art. I use my time to express my emotions through art and to show my pain to people. I don’t always draw sad pieces, sometimes I draw happy pieces because that’s one thing I love doing in here and I’m able to share with others. There is hope in all the things you put into practice. Even doing art or some type of drawing can keep people away from making mistakes here. With positive thinking we can do a lot and change our environment. I usually use a lot of different colors and oil pastel to do various styles of art. Most of my art is made of watercolor and color pencils. I only use what we can buy on commissary, but we make it work and turn it into a beautiful piece of art for the people to admire. I pray that my art reflects on the people that we are humans, and we have feelings just as everyone else. I started drawing at an early age and I also teach people here that don’t know how to draw. I teach those willing to learn my techniques so they can start doing the same. So far, I have accomplished a lot, teaching people how to draw successfully. I’m proud because my art teacher in school, as a child, showed me a lot of techniques to become more successful in my artwork. Now it’s my turn to pass it off to the next generation.
I want to leave a legacy of my art and to express my thoughts through art. Creating art teaches me to stay still, like meditation, that peace can make you put a lot of things together on an illustration board and express a lot. The art that I leave on a board is what is on my mind at that moment. I pray that the art reflects a beautiful picture. Even in a bad situation, I stand, not everything is darkness in here. There is still a light that shines from me. Thank you, Ricardo Zuniga
