As a child, like any good millennialsI was fascinated by cartoons; Goku, Oliver and Benji, Marco... I always wondered: How do they create such amazing cartoons? Did they draw them by hand or did they use some advanced technology?
I had no idea back then, but I remember something I used to do, try to draw Goku. I say try because I always ended up making a ball of paper the final result, except for a couple of them that were saved. Every time I drew, it seemed really complicated and I was never satisfied with the final result. Maybe you think this was the beginning of my artistic career, right?
no! For some reason, that artistic interest didn't awaken in me at that stage, maybe I wasn't ready.
I was good at school, I was one of those who studied the day before and got good marks, although I was bored out of my mind. I think the main reason was the approach to teaching in my country, as well as the attitude of most of the teachers.
On one of the trips I took with my parents to Madrid, on a visit to the Museo Nacional Reina Sofíawe go through the work of the master Pablo Picasso «Guernica»and my father commented:
- Jaime Look at that painting!
I replied:
- I do that, Dad.
How naive I was...
I barely finished secondary school and then I did an intermediate level module on the maintenance of mechanical and electrical lines. One thing was clear to me; I liked to fix and create. After finishing the module, I started working in a multinational company. It was at this moment that the fire inside me was awakened and I discovered my love for art and painting.
I decided to quit my job and enrol in the Bachelor of Arts at the Juan Lara Institute. You can imagine what my parents thought about it:
- This kid has lost his mind, now he wants to be an artist and goes around painting pictures, he has quit his job and has nowhere to drop dead.
The summer before starting bachelor, I was given a Goya oil painting kit, a small KIT to start painting. I took my first steps in painting with that kit, in a small room in my parents' house. I remember those days as if they were yesterday, when I painted almost in the dark, with a small light and in an atmosphere that seemed to be taken from the baroque period. My first work was a portrait I did of my sister Clara, on very thin plywood. At that time I had no idea how to prepare a support and take the necessary steps before starting to paint. Unfortunately, I think the portrait was lost, but that's where it all started.
After the summer, I started the Bachelor of Arts. During those two years, I had two teachers, who not only confirmed my vocation, but also motivated me even more. I finished the bachelor's degree with honours and was eager to enter the Faculty of Fine Arts in Seville, where I enrolled after passing the university entrance exams.
All this time I was painting and doing my little paintings in that dingy little room in solitude. Painting became an extreme drug from that first day I picked up the brush. It got me so hooked that I didn't want to do anything else. Before, it was clear to me, but now I could see it very clearly: I WANT TO BE AN ARTIST!
Being an artist may sound self-centred, but it is the only way for a person to make a living doing what he or she loves most, which is painting and creating.
In 2009 I began my studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts Santa Isabel de Hungría at the University of Seville. This stage was the best of my life and if you feel like it, I'll tell you about it in another post.
