The stages of my career as an artist – Part 1

First of a series of articles on the different stages of my career as an artist. A glimpse into my early drawings (1999- 2006)

I’ve recently sold a painting to an art collector who was curious about my past and wanted to know how everything started. I realized that I’ve never looked back to what I was doing in the early stages of my art career. I went through my early paintings and drawings thinking that offering a glimpse into my evolution as an artist would help my audience to emotionally connect with my work, so I’ve written a few posts about my early works and my origins that will help you better understand my art practice.

This blog will enhance your understanding of my work, but it may also influence your interpretation of the single pieces. Remember that art is supposed to be experienced by you, the viewer, because if art has to be explained it might lose part of its essence.

Create your own and unique experience with that piece of art you like so much before getting the artist’s explanation of it.

How and why the artistic journey started

I loved drawing when I was little, which is nothing special since all children love drawing. My art grades were poor in Middle School, so I grew up afraid of drawing.

When studying Advertising, design classes were my favorite, still I had to deal with the lack of confidence when drawing/sketching on paper. I completed my degree and I moved to London (1996-99) to further my studies and to do some work experience. One day, an Art director who was looking at my handmade portfolio said “Wow, this looks like a piece of art! I was puzzled by the comment! And the word “art” started to grow in my mind. It wasn’t until I went back to Spain in 1999 that I started to paint. A few months later I moved to Florence, Italy, where I took some lessons on wood sculpture and art.

Disproportionate figures

My first drawings (displayed in the image above) are mostly faceless, without eyes, nose or mouth. Human bodies are disproportionate and female forms are exaggerated. Movement is somehow expressed through the use of line segments, mostly curved. There is usually some kind of interaction between the figures in the composition of my early works. Most of the drawings depict minimalist female figures that flow beyond the edges of the paper.

Subject and technique

The subject matter has always been women. I felt comfortable using markers on white paper, a technique that I still use. I filled up sketchbooks of drawings every day. On 2000, I was producing like 20-30 drawings per day, some days even more. Some of them went lost, others are stored on the shelves of my house.

My early drawings can’t be found on the web!

Get in touch, if you are interested in looking at and/or purchasing some of my drawings from the 2000-2006 period.

I see you in my next post!

Ciao!

Raquel