Q: Tell us about your art technique and what first sparked an interest in this medium.
A: I´m a Photomanipulator, I work with real photos of real people, real objects, etc. I combine them, mix them, paint and draw on them… My tools are Photoshop and my Wacom Intuos4 tablet.
Q: Do you use any special materials, or do anything out of the ordinary when you are creating your art, If so could you tell us about it?
A: No, nothing special, I suppose. Only try to make the most of Photoshop tools.
Q: When did you begin to take an interest in art and for how long have you considered yourself an artist?
A: I have always drawn, since a child. I had that gift. I drew horses all over since I was four or five year old.
Q: What inspires your creations?
A: Various things, normally I have an idea in my head. I look for stock images that I think fit best with this idea and then I combine them. It is slow work. Very sacrificed. Other times is a photo stock image which impressed me, especially a model. I try to create an appropriate environment and I work to make the whole pretty and credible. Bring her to life, and tell a story.
Q: What challenges do you have when you’re creating, and what makes you the happiest when you’re bringing a new project to fruition?
A: The biggest challenge is to be satisfied with myself, with what I am doing. I am very self-demanding, and the process is usually hard. When I decide it is finished, the satisfaction is with sharing it. When I have shared it, it is as if it were not something of mine anymore and I need to start the process again.
Q: Were you formally trained or are you self taught?
A: I started with Photoshop Elements 5 and 6. Expending many hours each day practicing with Tutorials. Test / error. I’m very stubborn, a perfectionist and demanding on myself. No hurry. When I was innocent and I thought I knew the program I went to my first photomanipulation course. Then two more for a total of about two hundred hours. Most of what I know I learned there, for which I am thankful.
Q: What advice do you have for artists who are seeking to follow a creative path as a career?
A: A lot of study, a lot of patience, having your eyes and mind open, looking for your own style.
Q: Has there been anyone in your life who was particularly influential or someone who supported your choice to become an artist?
A: On the contrary, the things of life forced me to leave my studies of fine arts when I was starting, the same thing happened when I started designing jewelry. I do not feel rancor but sometimes I wonder how it would have been with the reverse luck.
Q: Can you name any artists who have influenced your style or techniques, and why they were favored?
A: Not especially, as a photomanipulator, the tool has influenced me more than other artists.
Q: Do you find that your environment or music influence your creative process, if so can you describe a perfect setting for you to do your art.
A: Yes, of course. Everything influences me, a nice view, a nice alley, a movie or a television series, the atmosphere of a book… For my work I need to be isolated, in silence, with a light Coca-Cola, tobacco and my cat lying next to me.
Q: What comes next? Do you have any big projects in the works or plans for the new year?
A: I do not usually make plans, I just hope to continue enjoying what I do, that’s all.