LA JOLLA — Sebastian Capella is a world-renowned modern master of painting who has lived quietly in La Jolla for the past 30 years. He is also an expert teacher with many adoring students who circle around him courting his wisdom. Capella divides his artistic pursuits between painting portraits and impressionist landscapes and still lifes. For two days a week, he devotes himself wholeheartedly to helping his painting students grow in ways individually tailored to their own special needs. Although Capella has strong ties and a deep connection to his native Spain, he has no plans for leaving La Jolla. “People in California are the nicest people in the world,” he said. “That is why I have stayed here so long. The turning point in my life was when I came to America. I realized that this was a golden opportunity and that I could fulfill my dream of making a living as both a painter and a teacher.” Capella was born in Sagunto, Valencia, Spain on May 15, 1927, making him now a very spry and enthusiastic 83 years-old. He grew up during the time of Franco and the Spanish Civil War. His father was a banker and had a large orange grove where Capella worked as a child. When he was 5 years-old, Capella would often say, “I want to be a painter of paintings.” When he was a teenager, he would go to the art museum, point to the paintings and say, “I want to paint like that, like Velasquez.” After high school, Capella joined the military to fulfill his mandatory obligation. It was there that he recognized his talent for drawing and sketching. After military service, Capella entered the Valencia School of Fine Arts, from which both Velazquez and Sorolla had graduated. Out of the 70 who began the training, only 15 made it all the way through. After all these years, although some of the 15 graduates have made it as teachers, only Capella has found fame and financial success as a painter. Capella has many accomplishments to his credit. He has painted portraits of the king, queen and prince of Spain, as well as many of the most important business leaders of that country. He enjoys celebrity status when he visits his homeland. It is quite common, when he goes out to dinner in Spain, for him to be greeted with, “Oh, Señor Capella! Please come in. We will open the restaurant to you and make you a special paella.” In addition to having been shown in many galleries in the U.S. and Spain, Capella was awarded first place at the National Portrait Seminar in 1983 in Washington, D.C. He was also given a special commendation in 1988 from former San Diego mayor Susan Golding for artistic services to the community, and is currently under consideration for a Cultural Merit award in Spain. He has done CD covers for Lorenzo Palimino’s opera “Dulcinea” and guitarist Celdonio Romero’s renditions of Bach. He is now putting the finishing touches on a portrait of Jose Vincente Gonzales, the president of the Spanish firm CEF. Capella, an admirer of Sorolla, Velasquez, Ribera, Sargent and Van Gogh, is what you might call a conservative, scientific and hard working painter who thinks that, “Art is hard work and nothing is harder than a portrait.” He likens art to science and advises his students to, “Think more, paint less” and “Stay longer in the preliminary stages” — meaning, they should observe and consider and contemplate much before even putting the brush to the canvas. Cappella is also neat, well-organized and tidy to the extreme. Once to prove his tidiness, student Charles Pinkney gave a painting exhibition dressed in an expensive tuxedo! Capella’s style can be classified as “Bravura” or “Alla prima” — bold, confident, powerful, offhand and masterful. Considering his scientific approach to value color and relationship, one can understand how Capella is opposed to artists such as Jackson Pollack throwing the paint on the canvas in the hopes that chance will be gratuitous. Although Capella admires modern abstract artists who demonstrate considerable skill, he asks, “Does it make sense to throw a bucket of paint on the canvas and call it good? Or paint with your elbow and consider yourself artistic?” Consequently, Capella thinks that Picasso has been far over-rated and judges Velasquez to be of a much higher stature than Picasso. Capella finds motivation for his work ethic in the desire to do good work and to improve incrementally over time. Although his hand is not as steady for detail as it once was, he considers himself to be constantly improving. “I am always eager to do my best possible work,” he said. “I want to leave a legacy of a good image which will last even after I am gone.” Capella is described by his students as a very positive teacher who never criticizes or uses negatives. His assistant Rae Anne Marks said that Capella is very careful not to hurt a student’s feelings because he knows that his students, as artists, are very sensitive. “He shows you where you need to grow with a positive, personal and a caring approach,” she said. “He looks at where you are and where you could be. Each student gets a different treatment.” Perrietta Hester, who teaches painting at local community colleges, was one of Capella’s first students in La Jolla area. “Sebastian taught me to see differently,” Hester said. “He taught me the importance of concepts such as balance, repetition, rhythm and movement.” Charles Pinkney has been studying art all his life. He thinks that Sebastian is the best teacher he has ever met. Pinkney likes to fondly muse that he and Capella are the reincarnation of Velasquez and his Moorish slave, Juan Deparria. Velasquez taught Deparria to paint and then gave him his freedom. Pinkney said that Sebastian “freed me. He gave me confidence and freed me from the imprisonment of the mundane drudgery of a job where I was working for someone else and not living my dream.” Coca Astey is another admiring student who has been with Capella for five years. She said that Capella has motivated her to study and appreciate “light.” She thinks that “the excitement is in the hunt to capture light.” She calls it, “trying to ‘pop’ the light.” Joey Riley has been studying with Capella for 10 years. “Sebastian is a very kind man with a great deal of integrity,” she said. “He doesn’t hold anything back from his students. He will always share all the information with them.” For more information on Capella or his ongoing classes, see SebastianCapella.com or call (858) 551-9780.