Blu Magazine Interview

Blu Magazine illustrates the progression of fashion cultures by showcasing current trends in fashion, art, music, street culture and entertainment. You can find this free magazine in London, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte and Charleston and see all the back issues here.

Blu Magazine issue 12

This is my last interview for Blu Magazine.

Your black and white portraits are very realistic. Do you work from photographs? Tell us about your artistic process.

Yes, I’m skilled at drawing realistic. I’m quite old fashioned in my process; everything starts with a pencil and a good photo. I like to capture features, expressions, personalities and light. Sometimes my illustrations are digitally enriched with a little touch of color.

I use good photos as reference and photographers such as Richard Avedon, David Bailey, Hedi Slimane, Rankin and Tom Hoops are a big influence on my work.

How do you select who you are doing to draw next?

It is a difficult task, I have a wait list… I really like to draw people who admire or caught my eye, could be actors, musicians or anonymous people.

Which area of portraiture inspires you the most, music, fashion, or cinema?

I’m used to drawing and listening to good music. I love going to gigs, but cinema is also a big inspiration for me. I also like fashion and designers like Alexander McQueen and Hedi Slimane.

What is the art scene like in Bilbao?

You can visit the spectacular Guggenheim Museum Bilbao of modern and contemporary art designed by Frank Gehry and Bilbao Fine Arts Museum that showcases an extraordinary variety of art works. AlhóndigaBilbao designed by Philippe Starck, is a cultural and leisure place and Bilbao Arte is an artistic production centre which provides young creators with the means and infrastructures required to develop their artistic ideas.

What role does your Spanish environment play in your work?

Well I can’t tell you! Ever since I was a child I was more influenced by foreign art, music and cinema. Although we have fantastic artists here, they usually find success abroad.

What sort of perspective do you convey in your portraits?

I think that all artists should tell a story and convey a feeling or emotion, and I believe each of my portraits realistically reflect the person that was drawn.

Boy by Carmen Ortiz

Do you ever experiment with any other types of media besides black and white pencils?

Yes, sometimes I use pastel pencils, but other times I use my wacom with Photoshop.

Any upcoming shows/exciting news to share with our readers?

I’ ve the pleasure to collaborate with my artwork for Zerostigmata AMFO Benefit Collective 7. This expo is made to help families affected by Sandhorff and Tay-Sachs diseases. I’ll also participate in the project “Walking Gallery” next June.