Hugo López Catalán
I am a 24-year-old artist from Málaga.
I primarily draw using fine- and thick-tipped markers, acrylic markers, ballpoint pens, graphite pencils, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, watercolor pans, and chalk (though I have only used chalk once).
About me
My name is Hugo López Catalán. My interest in botany began during a school trip when I was 12 years old. Since then, I have dedicated my time to independently studying the names of most plants in Málaga and other regions outside of Spain. I enjoy visiting natural spaces such as parks, botanical gardens, nature reserves, and plant nurseries across different parts of Spain and the world. Of all the plant nurseries I know, my favorite is Viveros Guzmán.
As for botanical gardens, my favorites are:
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The Historical Botanical Garden "La Concepción" in Málaga.
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The Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, especially its greenhouse, where I was able to see the tropical flower Heliconia bihai.
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The Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra (Portugal).
In the artistic field, I learned to draw at the age of three and have been participating in competitions since I was 13. In 2015, I won first prize in my very first competition, organized by the Atiende Foundation. A year later, in the summer of 2016, I held my first drawing exhibition in Málaga at the Moreno Villa Gallery, titled "Poetic Taxonomy". Following that, I held another exhibition at the "La Concepción" Historical Botanical Garden. Since then, I hadn't had any further exhibitions until April 2026, when my third show took place.
Timeline (Artistic Journey)
June 2025-May 2026
June 2023-June 2025
January 2021-June 2023
October 2018 - December 2020
June 2016 - September 2018
June 2014 - May 2016
2005- May 2014
Without ever losing the habit of drawing, I continued to create occasionally. Between January and February 2026, I significantly increased my artistic output compared to December 2025. From April 7th to May 16th, 2026, I held my exhibition in Madrid—a truly historic moment for me.
I worked intensely over two summers (2024–2025). In October 2024, I traveled to Japan and visited numerous Shinto shrines (my absolute favorite and a great source of inspiration being Fushimi Inari in Kyoto), Buddhist temples (such as the Arashiyama Temple in Kyoto), Zen gardens, the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, and urban districts like Shinjuku, Akihabara, and Ginza. It was an incredible, unique trip, and afterward, I created one of the greatest works of my life.
I participated in two drawing competitions: the first in June/July 2021 at El Balneario (Los Baños del Carmen, Málaga), and the second in November 2022, called "Arte Diverso" in Motril (Granada). At the latter, my paintings competed alongside sculptures and photographs, and I received an honorable mention.
I discovered water-brush pens (empty markers fillable with water), which are ideal for watercolors, and began experimenting with this technique. I created watercolor pieces and combined them with markers or pens.
A milestone that marked a major step forward: my exhibition at the Moreno Villa gallery in Plaza de la Merced ran throughout the summer of 2016. During this time, I almost exclusively drew from my imagination. In the summer of 2018, I held my second exhibition at the Málaga Botanical Garden, which was visited by hundreds of tourists.
I discovered my passion for botany and taught myself the craft; I began drawing my first botanical landscapes. In March 2015, I entered my first drawing contest, organized by the Atiende Foundation. I won first prize, and since then, my artistic growth has accelerated significantly.
My mother taught me to draw when I was 3 years old; that was the beginning of my self-taught artistic journey. I started painting with various materials, such as pencils, markers, crayons, and paints. The first things I drew were cars and animals (including dinosaurs), as well as my most iconic character, "Rino the Rhino," who makes an appearance in some of my works.
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