Born and raised in Uruguay, watercolor artist Alvaro Castagnet (featured in this week’s PleinAir Podcast) started art school at the young age of 12, having fallen in love with drawing and painting as a child. In his early twenties he traveled to Melbourne, Australia where, struck by the watercolor art and artists, he lived for the next 20 years.
In this PleinAir Podcast with Eric Rhoads, Castagnet talks about his experience with watercolor and his life as an artist. “Watercolor is a very illusive medium,” he says, “in which the artist must conquer art quality, expressing ourselves with a magnificent array of brushstrokes, with a well-developed sense of color schemes . . . New vision is needed from artists today; not just painting using watercolors, but also using the medium with the ability to inject into the painting a great deal of mood.”
Listen to the podcast below to learn more about Alvaro Castagnet, his art, and why he says seeing the end result of your work is critical for watercolor artists in particular.
Watercolor artist Alvaro Castagnet is a faculty member of the 7th Annual Plein Air Convention & Expo (PACE) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Learn more about PACE, which is the world’s largest plein air event, at pleinairconvention.com.
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Such a wonderful, valuable interview. I love how you gave Alvaro the room to fully express himself. Thank you Eric.
I’ve listened to this podcast at least half a dozen times. By far the most inspiring to date. What a passionate and introspective artist!
[…] Click here to visit our sister site and listen to the podcast to learn more about Alvaro Castagnet, his art, and why he says seeing the end result of your work is critical for watercolor artists in particular. […]
Alvaro love your style and your thoughts. I walked away from art at the age you began in earnest 🙂 then at 58 having had an amazing life and it was a class in the evening program that ignited my love of art again now it pours out from within again. Since that day I have enjoyed every piece you have done and has been shared thank you for your thoughts once again.
Very honest interview …… thank you Alvaro
Alvaro …I love your Art….and have painted some of your pieces…I would love to show them to you
as i understand your thoughts on trying to get beneath the surface ….Painting is like an addiction …once you start it is very hard to stop, your passion just overtakes you….I love your work!!!
Preach it Alvaro! – we need more expressive paintings!! – and to move beyond technique – and get into the deeper meaning of looking within and without simultaneously! I laughed out loud at your Venice rant – loved it!