LAKE COUNTY >> Ron Keas’ twelfth Christmas was a pretty good one, seeing as he received something that would set him off on a path to his future career. “I got a photography kit for Christmas, a dark room kit, and enjoyed that,” said Keas.
From that point on, Keas learned the tricks of good lighting, composition, color and everything else needed to make a successful photograph. At San Jose City College he continued studying the craft as an Art of Photography major, until he left school for the Navy after two years.
But he didn’t put his camera down. His passion for the artform lead him to complete the Naval School of Photography and he began operating a camera for the military. “I was a photographer in the Vietnam War for four years,” said Keas. “I did a lot of dark room work and printing of maps for bombings photographing planes crashing on decks and stuff. It was exciting, but I prefer what I’m doing now.”
Today, on top of freelancing photography, Keas also creates oil paintings for a living. He’s been working with the medium since he was a young teen. “I’ve been doing it since I was in high school. I started in the ninth grade and learned pretty much just on my own,” he said.
Keas loves the two mediums for different reasons. Photography is particularly enjoyable because it allows him to express his unique vision. “It’s like I’m framing nature with my camera. I’m putting a frame around scenes that I like,” he explained. “I prefer nature photography over other kinds.”
Oil painting, on the other hand, has a permanence that Keas is drawn to. “Other mediums fade over time but not oil paint,” he said.
Keas paints a variety of scenes, from seascapes to sunsets at the lake to still life, but where he finds the most joy is portrait painting. “I like my art to look back at me, that’s why I do portraits. I like their eyes looking right back at me,” he explained. “They just seem more alive.”
When it comes to his portraits, Keas is highly concerned with making work that stands out. “When I do an oil painting I find pictures, usually on the internet, and then I’ll put a face with a different body and a different background so it’s original,” he said. “I don’t just copy a photo I try to tell a story with each oil painting.”
One example of Keas’ storytelling is a recent oil painting he completed of Hillary Clinton, who he actively supports in the hopes that she will be the next President. “The big [painting] with Hillary has all her family pictures in the back on a table behind her,” said Keas.
Clinton’s portrait is far from the first political painting that Keas has created. He’s created many portraits of Obama, always depicting him in a good light. “I support Obama with my positive artwork and I make fun of the Republicans with my satire artwork. There’s a lot of people that are really open for that.”
Keas has a plethora of industry contacts and doesn’t have to worry if people are going to see his political messages. Big names have taken notice of Keas’ work, including The Huffington Post. “They did a large article on me,” Keas said. “They said my paintings ‘make us proud to be Americans,’ my paintings of Obama.” The New York Times also published one of his portraits on the front page.
“I recently got a thank you note from President Obama personally thanking me for supporting him,” Keas revealed.
As he ventures further into the political art world, Keas is doing more than painting politicians. He recently finished up a piece on the situation in Ferguson through a memorial oil painting of Michael Brown. He intends to gift the painting to Brown’s mother.
Keas also finds a great deal of inspiration in Marilyn Monroe and had a portrait of her published in the coffee table book, “Marilyn in Art.” “She had a unique personality and look and she’s always beautiful,” said Keas. “There’s a lot of fans who appreciate my paintings when I do her.”
As a professional artist, Keas makes his living by selling his work online. “I’m pretty much retired now but that’s been my freelance living for most of my life,” he said.
It’s not hard to see that Keas has been successful. He has an impressive Facebook following, and people from over 150 countries have visited his website. “I post my pictures on Facebook of the lake just about every day [Facebook followers] say that I’m the ambassador for the beauty of Lake County,” he said. “I try to get the whole world to see the beauty of Lake County through my website.”
Keas spent many years living and working down the coast, but the beauty of the county and Lucerne, where he lives, really speak to his photographic sensibilities, as many an artist has discovered. “You know, for 25 years we lived in Santa Cruz in the mountains and I did a lot of redwood photography but I really love it here,” he said. Lake County has plenty of sky and sunsets for Keas to capture, views that weren’t available to him in his former home. “It was treed in Santa Cruz. I hardly ever saw the sky.”
Keas has many beautiful photographs of the area for sale online and in addition to these sales, Keas creates original work for people in the area. “I’m just finishing up one of a city official who’s retiring,” he said. “So I take commissions on fine art portraits for families mainly.”
It’s clear that Keas is a multitalented artist, with many interests and a perspective to show the world. “I’m just finishing up a Marilyn and Elvis on a motorcycle [oil painting],” he said. “Now I’m working on doing some beautiful large panoramics of Lake County and framing them,” he added.
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
