Luis Sottil

Luis Sottil was raised in Tampico, Mexico, an area rich in beautiful natural resources. Drawing and painting were always his favorite things to do. He did not like taking art classes because he felt his freedom of expression was limited by regulations. He preferred experimenting with different styles and medias that eventually led him to create his own technique.

Sottil was sent to New York to finish high school and learn English. His family had his future planet out. He was urged to get a business administration degree at a college of his choice and return to Tampico, as the oldest son, to take charge of the family business.

One year before Sottil graduated from college, the Mexican government nationalized the family’s business, taking it away from them. What then seemed like a dead-end turned into one of the best opportunities for Sottil. He had the chance now o do what he really wanted, without all of the family’s pressures. That’s when he decided to declare himself independent physically and financially from his family and move to New Orleans, with the desire to paint as he had never done before.

Inspired by Mother Nature as his subject, Sottil’s unique style consists of extracting natural pigments from marine flora as well as the jungles of his native Mexico. The application of these pigments over a rich gold leaf coating creates a multi-layered translucent effect of color. Sottil names this technique Naturalismo. The subject matter is always simple, relaxed, innocent, and yet sophisticated.

Sottil’s fascination to paint Mother Nature grows even farther. To this day, he continuously studies his subject matters from libraries to the wilderness. He wants his paintings to have the intensity to create a dialogue between nature and mankind, a dialogue about the importance of human beings growing in harmony with nature, a dialogue simply of beauty.