HOW CAN YOU NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH BE FERNANDEZ’S WORK

You can tell when an artist hits the street to express herself without permission, for the simple and wonderful need to communicate, connect and self-realize. This appears to be the case with Blanca Fernandez.
According to what we have read on her website, she has always drawn, was inspired by Pulp culture by her father, and in the 2010’s she went out to paste up the streets of Madrid.
After she shared a reel with us using our MTN WBs (among other things) we became curious and decided to get to know her a little better.
Join us.

“I started going out at night to paste up my drawings on the streets; it made me feel alive. I could communicate with the world and I didn’t need any intermediary or gallery to do so. I felt the absolute freedom of creation.”

Can you tell us something about your beginnings in paste up?
I have loved painting since I was a child, but when I was in college I went through a time when I had lost the motivation to do it. It was then that I discovered the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop and became obsessed with it. Street art revived that spark in me that had been extinguished.
I started going out at night to paste up my drawings on the streets; it made me feel alive. I could communicate with the world and I didn’t need any intermediary or gallery to do so. I felt the absolute freedom of creation.
At first I made small drawings and soon I began to work in large formats on rolls of paper that I spent hours painting. Sometimes they would last for months or even years, other times they would barely last two days until someone removed them. I spent hours painting for no particular purpose other than to show it out there. It was, for me, a symbol of the true love I felt for creating.

Sometimes I was accompanied by a friend at the time; it became a weekly ritual. We met to cook homemade glue and when it was late enough for the streets to be quiet, we went out to paste up our paintings. We used a broom as a roller, and mixed flour, water and caustic soda for the glue. We did it with whatever we had at home because we spent all our money buying painting materials and paper.
Other times I went out with a friend that is graffiti writer. He has been painting for many years and is a great spray painter. I learned a lot about this world and he taught me how to use cans.
We used to go together at night to do road medians; he did his letters and I pasted up large format paintings. Sometimes we traveled to do it in other cities in Europe. I had a lot of fun and learned many things that have stayed with me ever since.

Why did you choose that path and what memories do you have from that time?
It was the first time I felt I could connect with strangers through my work and I loved that. Sometimes I would go where I had done the paste up and stand for a while watching people walk by to see what reaction it produced in them. It made me very happy, and now I think it laid the foundation for my passion for creating and communicating with people through my work.
I clearly remember one night when I was walking downtown with a friend and we saw a group of people with rollers, buckets and papers. We went over to talk to them and when we exchanged our AKA’s I found out that they were some of the street artists I admired at the time.
They were very nice and welcomed me with open arms. From then on I started going out with them to paste up and started meeting other people in this field that until then had been a bit lonely for me. I remember that period as a very good time.

“I think it is a reflection of the times we live in. Until now it was the digital techniques that tried to imitate as much as possible the effect of the human hand, and now for the first time we are seeing how the analog world tries to imitate the digital.”

Your style seems to draw from various sources and find itself (with its differences) within a current trend. Could you tell us a little about this? Do you think you are an artist of your time?
Although a large part of my inspiration comes from classic artists and past eras, I consider that my style clearly belongs to the present time.
When I was a child I learned to draw by copying old comics that my father kept in my room. I had not yet formed my style, but in my beginnings in paste-up my creations were very influenced by the way I had learned to paint, and by the street art of the 90’s and 2000’s.
When I was 20 years old I learned to use digital tools. That new format changed my life because it allowed me to draw infinitely without having to accumulate pieces of paper, canvases or materials. I learned a lot and very fast, and I began to develop my current style thanks to digital drawing.
I think it is a reflection of the times we live in. Until now it was the digital techniques that tried to imitate as much as possible the effect of the human hand, and now for the first time we are seeing how the analog world tries to imitate the digital.
Although with differences, as you say, I see many colleagues configuring their pictorial languages with a great influence of the digital world. I think it is a very refreshing way of communicating and very characteristic of our time.

Do you find it difficult to balance your personal work with your client-based work?
I like to combine both worlds for mainly two reasons: the first is that I think I need both to continue developing and enhancing my creative thinking.
They are two very different ways of creating, one is based on a creativity with barriers and limitations and the other on a totally free creativity without indications, which for my mind are two very different types of challenges.
In my work as an illustrator I have to try to communicate from within, keeping in mind that it is for someone else’s purpose, and it is those barriers and limitations that make it a challenge. In my more personal work, on the other hand, I have to communicate from within without any kind of limitation, and it is that absolute freedom, without any guidance, that becomes an enriching creative challenge. My personal work involves a deeper and more emotional process, I enjoy it very much.

“I have worked hard to be able to dedicate myself today to something that I am passionate about in an honest way. If one day it is no longer like that, I will have no hesitation in changing my path.”

The second reason is that I found many people with this preconceived idea, I guess because of ignorance, that if you want to be a “real” artist and be taken seriously, you can’t work as an illustrator. I’ve been told that, but the truth is that I’ve never tolerated impositions, and I hate feeling that I have to be a certain way to fit in with what is expected of me. So being able to do both just because it’s what I want to do, without being limited by other people’s opinions, gives me a lot of peace.
I have worked hard to be able to dedicate myself today to something that I am passionate about in an honest way. If one day it is no longer like that, I will have no hesitation in changing my path.

Tell us about your work process.
When creating my most personal works, the first phase of ideation is the most primitive and the most important. Unlike when I work as an illustrator, where there is usually a very intense first phase of research and definition of ideas, when I create my personal work this first phase comes purely from intuition.
I usually sit in front of a blank sheet of paper and I make very vague sketches with a pencil using simple geometric figures to represent how I feel. Sometimes I also write a sentence that comes to mind. In some occasions Tarot symbols help me to clarify the process.
When I find the key to what I want to transmit I can feel it clearly. It’s usually a much faster and impulsive process than when I define an illustration for a client.
Then I usually work on the sketch in digital to get an idea of the color palette I want to use. Planning ahead saves me a lot of time and material. Once I have the sketch more or less defined, I work on the colors in acrylic and spray to see how they go together in real life.
With the color palette ready, I make the base drawing with graphite on canvas, give it a very watered-down layer of acrylic to protect the graphite and not to stain the rest of the paint, and begin to apply the color.
The last thing I always do is to work on the line. As a general rule I like very matte finishes so I don’t usually use varnish at the end. I use very resistant paint during the process instead.

You recently used water-based 400ml in the reel you shared. What did you think of them?
I love them, I have always used Montana for every spray job I have done. A year ago I discovered the water-based ones and since then I practically always use them. In addition to their finishes, their shades and resistance on the canvas for me are key because I work in a closed studio. Although I use a mask as a precaution, they are much safer to use indoors and it is very easy for me to clean the area after each process.