Michael Guevara

You’ve said painting is what brings you the most joy – when did you first realize that, and what did that moment look like?

Ever since I was a little kid I have always been somewhat of an artist, but for a long time I had pushed that passion to the side until just about a year ago when I rediscovered my love for art and for painting in particular. I was on vacation with a friend of mine and on a whim we had decided to paint and that time when I didn’t have any constraints from school or from my family on what I should create I really fell in love. When I was in high school in art class I think the constraints of being told what to make and being graded for it really stifled my creativity and my drive to want to create new art because it turned being creative into an expectation instead of it being my own personal drive.

Michael Guevara | Dandelions In The Wind | 2026

You often start with no finished idea in mind. Walk us through what a typical session in the studio looks like from blank canvas to “paint bomb” aftermath.

Before I put any paint on canvas I make sure my workspace is covered in garbage bags as not to get paint anywhere. My studio is more of a home studio and my parents don’t like having paint everywhere, but once I get my space paint proofed I begin by splattering paint directly on the canvas either to make organic abstract shapes with the paint or to thoroughly coat the canvas in one color before I start. After that I make some lines with the color and at this point the painting starts to reveal itself to me in the lines that the random strokes create. I tend to be impatient when I paint so I end up touching my painting more then I probably should to see if the paint is dry before I can continue layering. During this whole process I allow myself to be fluid and not care about dripping or spilling paint anywhere I find that, that mindset lets me be less restrictive in my painting.

Michael Guevara | Alone | 2026

Your surfaces are heavily layered and textured. What’s your process for building up those layers – do you know when a piece is “done”, or is that also intuitive?

My layering process can go one of two ways. Either I wait patiently for each layer to dry before I start adding more layers or what happens more often that I get so excited and want to see results now that I just layer on top of the wet paint. The reasons why I pick the colors I do when I’m painting is so that when I layer the colors on top of each other while they are wet that they wont turn brown. As for when

I find a piece done its mostly intuitive but, I love receiving criticism and a lot of the time when I think I’m done I go to my family for criticism I end up going back to the piece and adding more that I

would’ve never considered without that critique. There are also some pieces where I call it after just a few strokes because some pieces deserve the less is more treatment, and there have been countless pieces where I wish I had taken the less is more approach so now I don’t deny myself of that.

You mention using brushes of different stiffness and paint of different thickness. How do those physical tool choices shape the emotional tone of a piece?

I believe the different thicknesses of paint layer on top of each other different and drip differently the thinner paints will almost drip like water and it’ll look like melted ice cream, while thicker paint will stay in one spot and drip very slightly its thickness also allows the we paint to drip around it instead of mixing with the wet paint. The thicker paints also keep their original color better when layering on top of wetter paints without mixing so it lets me paint faster then if I were just to use one thickness of paint. As for the brush stiffness I find that a stiff brush actually adds an interesting texture that a normal brush just cant give me, I think that when I use stiff brushes in a piece it instantly makes it more sharp and wild because you can get these weird shapes and textures and I enjoy really leaning into that over making it all smoothed out and flat.

Michael Guevara | Staring Into Infinity With You | 2026

Miami and South Florida’s energy is a big influence for you. Can you point to something specific – a color, a rhythm, a moment – that makes it into your work?

I think the biggest part of South Florida that makes it into my work is all the nature. Down here its tropical sunny weather almost year round so all the vibrant colors of the plants, flowers and even the sky make it into my work. A lot of the time I like to go with color pallets that I see in nature. The other biggest influence is all the modern art all around Miami. I am definitely a sponge and all the murals and art on basically every high rise in the city inspires me greatly. Being in Miami its hard not to feel inspired by everything around you.

Michael Guevara | Sunset Spiral | 2026

Music and creative expression are lifelong influences. Do you ever paint to specific music, and does that change the outcome?

The music choice is almost as influential as the mood I’m in while I actually paint. My go to as of recently as been very chill ambient music with little to no words in it like Aphex Twin or Minecraft Music. I find that this kind of music has been making my work very abstract as of recent I think because without the words I end up with no outside influence to push me in any particular direction. But before I would listen to Acid Jazz and Psychedelic Rock and with those genres I feel my art gets more grounded and focused I usually ended up painting landscapes with my trademark weirdness.

Michael Guevara | Wrath Of The Sea Dragon | 2026

Your work is meant to be a focal point in residential, commercial, and hospitality spaces. How do you think about a painting living in someone else’s environment versus a gallery wall?

When I paint for residential, commercial, and or hospitality spaces I end up needing to compromise on my creative vision for the client because what they want isn’t always what I envision for a piece and at the end of the day its whatever they want since its their money. When I am creating for a gallery though I have no client pushing me in any direction so I can really let loose and create what I want to create. My dream would be to paint what I want to paint and have people want to buy them because its one of my art pieces.