Mario Ram&iacute;rez es un ilustrador que se mud&oacute; a Ajijic procedente de Tequila en 2019.
Ahora tiene 33 a&ntilde;os, comenz&oacute; a pintar cuando ten&iacute;a seis a&ntilde;os y decidi&oacute; dedicarse m&aacute;s en serio al dibujo en la escuela secundaria con el apoyo de sus profesores.
No pudo comenzar una carrera relacionada con el dise&ntilde;o despu&eacute;s de la secundaria debido al costo y los viajes. As&iacute; que a los 18 a&ntilde;os empez&oacute; a trabajar como hombre de mantenimiento en Jos&eacute; Cuervo en <a href="/tequila-trip/">Tequila</a>. Fue un trabajo que Mario mantuvo durante 14 a&ntilde;os hasta el verano pasado, cuando finalmente pudo dejar su trabajo diario y comenzar una vida como artista de tiempo completo, un sue&ntilde;o que ha tenido desde que ten&iacute;a 15 a&ntilde;os.
Mario lleg&oacute; a Ajijic al d&iacute;a siguiente de dejar Jos&eacute; Cuervo, pero sin trabajo para vender.
&#8220;No ten&iacute;a nada. S&oacute;lo ten&iacute;a un cuadro terminado y otro empezado. Lo puse a la venta en Facebook y al d&iacute;a siguiente se vendi&oacute;. Despu&eacute;s termin&eacute; otro y se vendi&oacute;&#8221;.
En Ajijic, dice, es posible vivir como artista, pero en Tequila s&oacute;lo hay turistas&#8230; &#8220;&iexcl;Y borrachos!&#8221;. bromea. &#8220;Por eso no pude dedicarme a ello all&iacute;. Porque la gente no compra, all&iacute; no hay movimiento&#8221;.
Mario comenz&oacute; vendiendo en la plaza de Ajijic antes de abrir su galer&iacute;a en Ju&aacute;rez #27 a finales de 2019.
Es un artista autodidacta y aprende principalmente de YouTube y otras fuentes. &#8220;Miro las t&eacute;cnicas all&iacute;. Cuando tengo una pregunta, miro el tutorial en YouTube&#8221;.
Mario usa carboncillo y bol&iacute;grafos en la mayor&iacute;a de sus dibujos, pero a veces tambi&eacute;n cambia a pinturas.
Su enfoque est&aacute; en explorar la cultura mexicana y su arte se centra en el retrato, ya sea de una persona, animal o flor. Charros, catrinas y otros temas mexicanos como el Xoloitzcuintli (el famoso perro sin pelo de M&eacute;xico), son los temas de su obra.
Algunas de las personas que se encuentran en sus ilustraciones son de Ajijic. Mario tambi&eacute;n es fot&oacute;grafo y toma fotograf&iacute;as durante los desfiles del pueblo. Se inspira en estas fotograf&iacute;as para sus dibujos.
Si est&aacute;s interesado en aprender m&aacute;s sobre c&oacute;mo dibujar, Mario da lecciones privadas y semiprivadas en su galer&iacute;a. Cont&aacute;ctelo a continuaci&oacute;n para obtener m&aacute;s informaci&oacute;n.

Mario Ramírez

Illustrator Mario Ramírez in front of his gallery at Juárez #27 in Ajijic.

Inside Mario Ramírez's art gallery at Juárez #27 in Ajijic, Mexico.

Mario Ramírez is an illustrator who moved to Ajijic from Tequila in 2019.
Now 33, he started art when he was six and decided to pursue drawing more seriously in high school with the encouragement of his teachers.
He was unable to start a career related to design after high school due to the cost and travel. So at 18, he started working as a maintenance man at José Cuervo in <a href="/tequila-trip/">Tequila</a>. It was a job that Mario held for 14 years until last summer when he was finally able to quit his day job and begin life as a full-time artist, a dream he&#8217;s had since he was 15.
Mario arrived in Ajijic the day after he quit at José Cuervo, but without any work to sell.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t have anything. I only had one finished picture and one started. I put it up for sale on Facebook and the day after, it sold. After, I finished another one and it sold.&#8221;
In Ajijic, he says, it&#8217;s possible to live as an artist, but in Tequila there are just tourists &#8212; &#8220;And drunks!&#8221; he jokes. &#8220;That&#8217;s why I couldn&#8217;t dedicate myself to it there. Because people don&#8217;t buy, there&#8217;s no movement there.&#8221;
Mario started off selling in the Ajijic plaza before opening his gallery at Juárez #27 at the end of 2019.
He&#8217;s a self-taught artist, learning mostly from YouTube and other sources.&#8221;I look at the techniques there. When I have a question, I watch the tutorial on YouTube.&#8221;
Mario uses charcoal and pens in the majority of his drawings, but also sometimes switches to paints.
His focus is on exploring Mexican culture and his art is focused on portraiture, be it of a person, animal or flower. Charros, catrinas and other Mexican themes like the Xoloitzcuintli (Mexico&#8217;s famous hairless dog), are the subjects of his work.
Some of the people found in his illustrations are from Ajijic. Mario is also a photographer and takes photos during the town&#8217;s parades. He draws inspiration from these photos for his drawings.
If you&#8217;re interested in learning more about how to draw, Mario gives private and semi-private lessons at his gallery. Contact him below for more information.