Leslie Gaduzo

Gibraltar, Malaga Avenida, oil, 31½ x 23½" (80 x 60 cm)

Second Prize is a two-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazine My Inspiration

Having trained and subsequently worked as an architect for many years, I have an almost ingrained sensitivity to the built environment. I feel drawn to buildings and in particular the spaces between them; streets, roads and plazas. It is how we interact with these spaces that I find interesting to observe, and which then makes me want to depict them. When I was 10 years old, in middle school art class, I would produce numerous single-point perspective drawings of imaginary streets with buildings on both sides, perhaps a sign of the work that I would eventually do as an adult.

My Design Strategy

Composition is key, but I have somewhat changed my philosophy over the last few years or rather, my position fluctuates between composition being key and a favorite saying which I heard somewhere that says “it’s not what you paint but how you paint it.” Ask yourself how many paintings have you seen of rather mundane or ordinary things and have been captivated by a unique quality it possesses. Something about the textures or color juxtapositions that keeps you glued to the image. In a perfect world, composition comes first and hopefully everything else falls into place after that, with mark-making playing a vital part in giving the painting a dual character of realism and abstraction as well as giving evidence of the energy and movement that went into producing it.

My Working Process

My working process mostly revolves around photography and video. This applies to portraiture as well as figure painting. In the case of cityscapes, if I find a space that is potentially the subject of a painting, I try hard not to decide in that moment what specifics will be included in the painting. I will rely on my eyes to absorb the view in that moment. Then in my studio while viewing the images or video recording, I try to transport myself to the future and imagine the feeling of painting it. I have to feel that I am able to transmit the illusion of depth but at the same time transmit the energy of the act of painting.

Contact Details

» Email: lesliegaduzo@gibtelecom.net, lesliegaduzo@yahoo.co.uk » Website: www.lesliegaduzo.com