Inside the Studio

Oscar Alvarez

What are the major themes you pursue in your work?

In many of my works, I use the female figure, which I surround with landscapes and imagined atmospheres so that I can achieve a certain melancholic, nostalgic, and sometimes mysterious aura. I always want the final outcome to be nice and sweet. Portraits and landscapes are also recurrent in my work. In my portraits I try to look at the psychological frame; my landscapes always pursue simplicity, calm and peace. My palette tends to be cautious. I really enjoy black and white, grey shades, earth tones, and playing with contrasts. I usually paint with watercolors and acrylics.

Special mention should be given to the cowboy’s figure. I particularly enjoy scenes of lonely cowboys with their horses. It is almost like returning to my childhood, back when I pretended to be a cowboy myself, or when I looked forward to watching those endearing westerns. This is just what I paint nowadays; I can’t foresee what I will paint in the future, I can only assure that I will continue with my art.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

The best advice, and the only one I would dare to give to anyone else, is to put your heart into every brushstroke.

Prefer to work with music or in silence? 

I like all kinds of music, although I don’t usually listen to any of it until I have the first phases of my work figured out. After that, I always have some music playing while I paint.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be? 

It would be so difficult to choose just one, there are so many… If I had to answer, I would choose Mrs. Henry White by John Singer Sargent.

Who are your favorite writers?

Truth be told, I don’t have much time to read, and when I do, I dedicate it to paint and art related books. But I do like Rosamunde Pilcher and Antonio Gala.