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I was born and raised in Arizona. My serious pursuit of painting began in 2019, after I moved into a new house in Phoenix and met my neighbor, Joe Borik.
For two years I simply observed him at work. What began as quiet fascination became an informal, rigorous apprenticeship. Joe taught me the fundamentals—accurate drawing, tonal structure, color mixing—before I ever put brush to canvas. More than technique, he gave me a mindset: detach from the fear of ruining a good painting, because anything you have done once, you can do again.
Over time I merged that disciplined foundation with my own instincts and direct experience of the world. I gravitate toward charcoal for its immediacy; it travels in a pocket and lets me draw directly from life anywhere, anytime.
My aim is straightforward: paint daily, continue to deepen my craft, and make work that lasts. A successful portrait is deeply personal yet universally legible—it belongs to the sitter and, if the painting is honest, to anyone who stands in front of it.
I will forever be a student, but the direction is clear. I intend to keep painting, and pushing the work forward.
Ian Escoto
For two years I simply observed him at work. What began as quiet fascination became an informal, rigorous apprenticeship. Joe taught me the fundamentals—accurate drawing, tonal structure, color mixing—before I ever put brush to canvas. More than technique, he gave me a mindset: detach from the fear of ruining a good painting, because anything you have done once, you can do again.
Over time I merged that disciplined foundation with my own instincts and direct experience of the world. I gravitate toward charcoal for its immediacy; it travels in a pocket and lets me draw directly from life anywhere, anytime.
My aim is straightforward: paint daily, continue to deepen my craft, and make work that lasts. A successful portrait is deeply personal yet universally legible—it belongs to the sitter and, if the painting is honest, to anyone who stands in front of it.
I will forever be a student, but the direction is clear. I intend to keep painting, and pushing the work forward.
Ian Escoto
My formal training has taken me from studying color theory with Gini Heywood to a 3 month concentrated period of technical drawing and alla prima portraiture at the Leonardo da Vinci Art School in Florence, Italy. In 2023, after returning to Phoenix, I completed a three-month intensive portrait masterclass under Jerry Salinas at the Scottsdale Artists’ School. Jerry trained for years at the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago alongside Romel de la Torre, Clayton J. Beck III, and that academy’s distinguished resident and visiting painters. I’m grateful to all of these instructors for the knowledge and discipline they’ve given me. Most of all, my respect is to Joe Borik—my neighbor, longtime friend, and the person who first taught me how to paint.
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