Rather than committing to a single favorite medium, Rogério favors what each medium allows him to do with value. Graphite offers unmatched finesse; pen-and-ink, as detailed in his hatching guide, translates value into directional strokes that can echo, all at once, most aspects of botanical structure, such as light, shade, texture, and anatomy. Colored pencils in his more recent courses become layered value instruments first and colorants second. Describing his colored pencil method, he explains that the class is “particularly focused on the process of obtaining color density and value by layering and dry-blending,” and that over time there has been “some change and expansion in my techniques, and in the understanding of the material.” His color thinking is grounded in the physics of materials, especially the way pigments mix on the paper surface and the crucial role of paper texture and tone.
He clarifies: “Curiosity moves me more than passion, and I’m always in some kind of quest or investigation. The same obsession with the details of an organism goes for my research of the technical aspects of the media I employ. I need to comprehend first empirically and last theoretically how they work. And I do it in this order to allow myself to have insights about the techniques and their functioning, before studying their physical essence or how they are manufactured, which eventually corroborates my glimpses and insights. This is a way of fostering trust in my own intuition and my ability to explore and learn by myself, hence achieving a more personal and creative approach, and avoiding limitations imposed by the established ‘rules’ recommended out there for any technique.”
Although his techniques are globally applicable, Rogério’s work is in quiet dialogue with Brazilian flora and its extraordinary diversity. His portfolio and course examples include species whose bold structures and complex inflorescences lend themselves to the kind of analytical drawing he favors, bringing an implicit sense of place to his plates and aligning his practice with broader ecological awareness.
Rogério’s teaching reads as an extension of his studio method: meticulous, generous, and anchored in explaining why a procedure works, with a genuine concern for the students’ true learning and for them to become self-reliant. His graphite and ink handouts lay out progressive exercises that help students develop sensitivity to pressure, stroke direction, and edge, whereas his colored pencil lecture begins with material behavior—paper, pigment, and sharpening—before moving to more complex botanical subjects. In his classes, he emphasizes that there are no prerequisites and encourages participants to “ask as many questions as needed, at any time during or after the lecture,” even inviting them to send videos so he can respond more precisely. This ethos of accessibility runs through his offerings, and the ASBA Botanical Illustrator Award in 2025 acknowledges not only Rogério’s refined body of scientific botanical work, but also his long-standing habit of opening his “laboratory” of practice to the wider community of botanical artists.
"The beauty of value in art is that it conveys way more than the subject portrayed. It captures atmosphere – the soul of environment."