-“There are two sources from where you can obtain images: the outside universe or your inside universe. I prefer the latter one. Imagination prevails over reality. Everything that exists in the physical world does because it was first imagined.”
-“Drawing keeps your artistic skills sharp. It is a laboratory where you can conduct all sorts of experiments. This gained knowledge will transfer eventually to other types of more serious projects.”
-“To keep harmony and balance through out the piece I use peripheral vision while painting or drawing.”
-“Talent is just a seed. Passion is the real fuel.”
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-“Draftmanship. That’s the string that holds all the great names together regardless of time or genre. DaVinci, Picasso, Van Gogh, Rockwell, Leyendecker…all great draftsmen.”
-“Please let me know when one of my paintings turns out ‘perfect’… so I can correct it.”
-“Conceptualizing is the hardest part of creating”.
-"Do not expect to know everything to start painting. Just paint. When I paint, I study."
-"It is not enough to dream being a painter, you must rather paint your dreams."
-"Organize your life. Have a set routine. If you want to be a professional, productive and successful artist, discipline is a must."
-"Techniques follow the message. I must have something to say in order to paint. Then comes simplicity: How can I make this simpler? This thinking yields to shapes, forms and spaces that allow me to explore in a creative manner. My style swings between academic pre-planning and instinctive expressive painting."
-“Me? A starving artist? Of course I am. Every morning, right before breakfast.”
-“Build up your painting like a jigsaw puzzle. Each brushstroke, line, edge, value, color must work in harmony. Consider the piece as a whole. The background is as important as your focal point. Give it proper attention. Ask yourself: How can the background help my subject looks better?”
-“Stop talking about yourself like if you were dead. Remove ‘I should’ve’ from your vocabulary. If you’re breathing you still have a chance.”
-“When your physical surroundings are clean and uncluttered, so is your mind.”
-“If you’re selling well: paint. If you’re not selling: paint more.”
-“The artist’s finances should be simple: Pay your debts upfront and sleep well, if your conscience is healthy and free of worries you’ll be able to produce good pieces.”
-"Once I painted a picture out of frustration: my worst ever. Lesson? Anger is a bad fuel for painting."
-"Not only do I expect accidents while painting... I'm counting with them."
- "Hay quien pinta por academia, buscando la perfeccion, satisfaciento la critica... con temor. Yo ando por otros lares... lo mio es pintar con sabor."
-"An excellent source of information is your local library. Borrow every art book they have available and browse them liberally. Eventually purchase those titles that you really think you can use as manuals for good."
-"Illustrators and comic book artists are usually more skilled and proficient in drawing and in the use of several mediums than most fine artists. I've learned more from illustrators how-to books than from fine artists ones."
-"Never forget that in art being called a “Maestro” just means that you’ve remained a great student in spite of your success."
-"Would you build a couple of houses before building the "real" house? A little bit of pre-planning sometimes is a smart things to do, but painting a painting before painting the painting? What is that about!? For Van Gogh's sake, it's just a painting... have some fun!"
-"If there's one artist that I could say came the closest to perfection was Norman Rockwell. He held all the marbles of art. There was nothing he couldn't master, yet he remained focused, humble, dedicated, highly productive, high quality oriented and open minded."
-"A sure sign of artistic maturity is when one fine day you find yourself painting totally free of inhibitions."
-"There's not enough red in the world."
-"Nobody can teach me how to paint like me."
-"The artists that walks around rationalizing everything deprives his art of many pleasant surprises."
-"Use as much paint as possible. How can you have fun painting without paint?"
-"Nothing should look like an after thought... ever!"
-"Create your own standard of what is 'junk', and once you do it... Don't do or sell junk!"
-"My materials? If it has the capacity of staining, transporting paint to the canvas and the ability of sticking there... is mine.
-"Look for the positive in everything... having a small and crowded studio where you have to jump over things, twist your torso while carrying a box and passing underneath your easel and doing all kind of crazy stunts keeps you in shape!"
-"With the exception of Bob Ross, I can quite honestly utter that watching a painter at work could be pretty boring."
-“Sometimes I simultaneously paint and draw a piece all the way until the end.”
-"Don't work against the grain. If you're not a delicate and meticulous painter, then you're not. If your not bold and can't can't stand painting outside the lines, don't. Discover your style and stick to it. Save yourself a lot of time and anguish: enjoy the ride."
-"I love trying crazy stuff all the time. Here's one for you: Most painters talk about "killing the white" of the canvas before starting, either using yellow ochre or red applied as a thin glaze. This is what I suggest: Go ahead and tackle your work right on the white canvas, then half way "kill the white" that remains by applying a thin glaze of a hot color. After the shock I assure you the painting will spin to places you never thought of... (hopefully not the trash can)."
-"How do I know that I'm done for the day? When I run out of clean brushes and knives and I'm too worn out to clean them and start again."
-“Negative criticism can certainly pull you down. We’re all
humans. Here’s my cure: persistence. Stay the course in spite of negativism. Shrug
them off, turn around and keep painting. Most critics don’t know how to create
a darn thing and they go to bed full of bitterness and jealousy. They’re like hunters
waiting for an innocent bird to proudly display their colorful feathers to take
a shot at it. I opt for a better path: I go to bed with the satisfaction of knowing that whether
somebody might or might not like my work, I’ve given it my honest best … and there’s
more to come!”
-"I have faith in the human hand. I love to see crooked lines and overlapping brush strokes... it makes me smile. I can relate to that."
-"For many years I heard some painters claiming not to use black but other dark colors instead, which I did and I still do. Yet, one day I tried black: It was love at first stroke. Loved it. Black with a hint of red in it is "the" perfect black."
-"How to clean brushes: Simple. For the longest time I
fought with all kind of systems. I boiled it down to this: Pour a little bit of
shampoo or dish liquid detergent on the palm of your hand, scrub the brush in
it, rinse & repeat if necessary, reshape the hairs and you're done. It
doesn't matter what medium you are using: acrylics, oils, casein, ink... it
works the same."
-"Get into the habit of painting with a mirror behind you in a slight 20
or 30 degree angle. Check your progress constantly by looking at the mirror
every so often. It is the best teacher, critic and friend you can ever have
with you in your studio: it doesn't lie, it doesn't interrupt you by talking
while you are working and as soon as you ask for feedback it doesn't
delay."
-"Take periodicals breaks from painting and take the piece to a different
place from where you are working... place it in your living room, kitchen,
bathroom... it will add perspective and insight to your work in progress."
-"On becoming creative and original: First, spend
oodles of time and energy soaking up as much information and images as you can
from all kind of sources and genres: children’s illustration, realism (actually
all kind of isms), books, visiting other artists and such. Secondly, as crazy
as it sounds, MAKE AN EFFORT TO DISREGARD EVERYTHING YOU’VE SEEN. As I said,
yes, it sounds like almost impossible, but, give it a try. Relax, and make an
effort NOT to consciously remember details of what you’ve seen. Thirdly, dive
into your studio and start creating. Finally, when you’ve worked up a couple of
pieces, ask yourself: “Is this me or am I copying?” If you’re not copying or
producing derivatives (in other words, almost a copy), great… you’re in the
right path. Anything else won’t stand the test of time. Your art should be as
personal as your DNA."
-"Consistency is a rare character trade nowadays. That's why I'm constantly inconsistent."
-"Every painting is just practice."
-"Don't expect things to be good... FORCE 'EM!"
-"If you want great art for a reasonable price buy children or comic books... I just love them!"
-"Actions speaks louder than words. So does your Facebook account."
-"At 46 I’ve reduce my list of Do’s and Don’ts to the bare minimum: 1. DO! 2. DON’T whine. And that does it for me."
Recommended Books:
-ALLA PRIMA, Everything I Know About Painting by
Richard Schmid
-Oil Painting Book: Materials and Techniques for
Today's Artist by Bill Creevy
-The New Acrylics: Complete Guide To The New
Generation Of Acrylic Paints by Rheni Tauchid
-The 5 Essentials in Every Powerful Painting by
Ramon Kelley
-Artist's Complete Guide to Figure Drawing by
Anthony J. Ryder
-The Magic of Making It by Jack White
-Il Libro dell' Arte by Cennino D' Andrea Cennini
-The Illustrator's Bible by Rob Howard
-All Andrew Loomis books
-All George Bridgman's books
My favorite music for painting:
-ATB
-Gotan
-David Holmes: Ocean's 13
-Hideo Kobayashi
-Frank Sinatra
-Destination: Rio
-Spa Sessions:Lounging
-Juan Luis Guerra: La llave de mi corazon
-Matt Bianco/Basia
-Michael Franks: Dragonfly Summer
-James Bond's Soundtracks
-All versions of The Girl from Ipanema
-Barroque Classical Music
-80's
My favorite methods for fitness:
-Weight training: brief, heavy & basic
-Walking
My favorite workout books:
-Dinosaur Training by Brooks Kubik
-Powerlifting by Barney Groves, Phd
-Strenght & Bulk Training for Weight Lifters & Body Builders by Reg Park