Hello! My name is Juan Ismael Maldonado, and I am a California born Mexican artist currently based in San Diego. Growing up in a small agricultural town in Central California, I developed a wide range of interests, some of which included the arts. While I did tend to draw quite a bit when I was younger, the visual arts were not what I mainly focused on. All throughout middle school and into high school, what I absolutely loved to do was to play and write music. I loved it so much that I went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in music composition. However, while I intend on continuing to make music, since graduating from college I have fallen out of that world. Due to this change, I was able to turn my attention to other artistic ventures, specifically oil painting.

The beginning of my oil painting timeline is a little bit hazy to me. When I first picked up a paint brush I did not expect it to grow to what it is today, so I did not take note of a lot that happened in the beginning. But I will do my best to recall the story for you here.

I would like to say my oil painting journey began when I first bought some paints and brushes sometime around the start of 2020, but I can’t really say that with confidence. I’m more inclined to say that my journey began when I was much younger with two different influences: an uncle and Bob Ross. When I lived in Mexico, I had an uncle who painted with oils. This was very long ago, so my memory isn’t great, but I do remember his paintings and how amazing they were. I remember wanting to try painting like him and even asking him to allow me to try. Of course, he refused, presumably because of how young I was. Nonetheless, I began to develop a taste for the arts at a very early age.

Along with this experience, some years later when I moved to the United States I would watch episodes of “The Joy of Painting” with Bob Ross painting his famous landscapes. Even though I do not remember much from this point in my life, it did introduce me to Bob Ross, and it is hard to forget about a person such as him. Fast forward some 15-20 years later, and I find out that episodes of “The Joy of Painting” are available to stream. Of course, because I was familiar with Bob Ross, I immediately turned on his show and binge watched episode after episode. Eventually, I reached a point where I wanted to try to paint along with Bob Ross, so I bought a beginner oil painting kit in order to give oil painting a try. I remember picking up the techniques pretty quickly and it ended up being quite an enjoyable experience for me, so I continued painting in the style of Bob Ross. After a short time, I got to a point where I wanted to try painting other subjects in addition to landscapes, so I began to branch out. As I painted more and more, I began to notice that I was actually getting some pretty good results, and so, I ultimately decided to try to take oil painting more seriously. I began doing research and watching YouTube videos to teach myself how to paint, and it was at this point that my oil painting journey began in earnest.

I have continued that journey to this day and I am pretty proud of the progress I have made. I currently still paint mainly as a hobby, as I have a full time job that does help support this hobby as well as the countless others that I have. I do intend to be able to make money from my art in the future, but for now I am just here to show my art to the world as I slowly build my skills. I hope you enjoy it!