Contest 10 – Winner Interview – José Héctor Alvarenga

Please tell us about your journey as an artist.

I started to draw since the age of 7.  One of my first inspiration was the Phantom and other comic book heros like Spider Man, Daredevil, Fantastic 4, etc.  As a teenager I shifted my interest to drawing portraits, figure drawings, heavy metal rock album covers and movie illustrations.  At 21 years old, I took my first oil painting lessons in 1996, and ever since then I fell in love with the medium.  On 2006 I started pursuing a career as an artist and discovered an interest in highly detailed still life and trompe l´oeil painting.  From time to time I took workshops and classes virtually or in person with some of the best contemporary realist painters to help me develop my knowledge and skills. 

 I consider myself a classical realist painter and try to work from life as much as possible.  I use photographies as references from time to time, but most of my works are done from life.  I have developed a unique style that combines humor, symbolism and nostalgia. I collect many cool objects to be uses as props for my paintings.  I want to be able to entertain, fool and make the audience smile.  As of lately, I have also gotten interested in miniature paintings and would love to continue learning and challenging myself in this new genre/style of painting. 

What is your medium and why did you choose it?

Oils is my medium of choice.  I chose it because it´s the only medium I have been using and learning from since I began painting back in 1996.  It´s very versatile and it´s the preferred medium of many master painters from present to centuries past.

What was the inspiration behind this work?

My inspiration for this painting was to pay a tribute to 19th century trompe l´oeil painter William Harnett.  One of William Harnett´s most iconic works is the “Old Violin”, thus I decided to paint this miniature violin that I bought to use as a model for this painting.  This is a painting within a painting as there´s a miniature copy of another of Harnett´s iconic work that appears on the stamp: “Old Models”.  The stamp was first issued in 1969 and it only costed six cents.  I also got inspiration from again William Harnett to paint a piece of paper stuck on the wall/background with the C major scale below the miniature violin.

Who is your favorite artist? Why?

I have so many artists that I admire past and present that I will always be undecided to choose one of them. I love Rembrandt, Gerrit Dou, Van Hoogstraten, Vermeer, Van Dyck, Frans Hals, Velazquez, Murillo, Van Ruisdael, Chardin, Boilly, Bouguereau, Sargent, Haberle, Harnett and many, many others