At 84 years old, world-renowned Spanish-born painter Sebastian Capella still radiates a youthful vigor. Whether it stems from the genuine enjoyment he gets with every stroke of his paintbrush, the ever-expanding repertoire of knowledge he continues to reap from his students or from the colors that surround him in his art studio each day, Capella’s vivacity permeates any room he sets foot in — a characteristic that does not go unnoticed by students in his twice-weekly private art classes in La Jolla. Students tend to gather around Capella when he is at work turning blank canvas into masterpieces. As he strolls about the room during the 4-hour class, he occasionally picks up a student’s paintbrush to show students how to structure a figure’s anatomy or fully embrace the wide range of colors available to them on their palettes. Capella’s eyes may have lost focus with age, but they have sharpened with wisdom. His hands may demonstrate an occasional shake in pulse, but each paint stroke is more certain than ever. Only years at the helm of thousands of easels could have led Capella to where he is today — the recipient of a multitude of international accolades, an acclaimed artist who has painted numerous portraits for a high echelon of world leaders and a man with no regrets. Even from a young age, Capella knew what he wanted to do. “When I was five years old and people asked me, ‘What do you want to become when you are older?’, I said, ‘I would like to be a painter of paintings,’” he said. “I don’t know why I came up with this idea, [but] I’ve always had it in the back of my mind.” After going to art exhibitions and seeing portrait painters in movies, he could not be enticed by any other subject. “I couldn’t be a doctor — I don’t like blood, I don’t like people dying, things like that. No way,” he said. “I think I was a portrait painter by nature.” When he was 21, Capella finished his military service, attended the School of Fine Arts in Valencia for five years and was one of the few who graduated from the school. “We started with 70 people — my own wife was [one], it’s where I met her — but we only finished 14,” he said. “I think I’m the only one making a living from my own work.” After completing his studies, including two more years studying anatomy and perspective in Madrid, Capella came to San Diego. “I first came to San Diego with $400 by myself,” he said. “I left my family in Valencia and it took me 14 months before I could bring them back.” During that time, Capella would paint portraits, bathroom walls and decor for money until he was finally able to bring his wife and three daughters back with him, thanks to a position at the University of San Diego, where he worked for seven years as a painting instructor and assistant professor. “When I came here, I liked San Diego so much,” he said. “I told my family, ‘If I get lost, you have to find me in San Diego.’” And with the exception of annual trips back to Spain, he has been here ever since, teaching private painting lessons first in the attic of the San Diego Art institute in Balboa Park, and now in his at-home art studio in La Jolla, where he has lived and worked since the early 1970s. “To me, California is the best in the United States, and the best of California is San Diego, and the best of San Diego is La Jolla,” he said. “I wouldn’t change my life at all. If I had start again, I would do the same thing.” La Jolla Village News: How would you describe your artistic style? Sebastian Capella: I’ve always been a figurative painter. I started as any figurative painter does, I guess, doing impressionism. I started as an impressionist, but little by little, I get looser and looser and looser … I paint looser because I have no choice now anyway because I cannot get involved with details, but I have a power and security and control over the colors that I never had before and this is very rewarding. LJVN: How would you describe your teaching style? SC: When I’m teaching, I’m teaching in different ways to different people. Each one has required a different treatment, and I have to adapt myself to the student. The principles are the same, but the way to accomplish that job with every student is totally different … I am very specific and very concrete. I want specific questions and I want to give specific answers. This is real teaching. It’s not folding your arms … I show them how to do it. LJVN: What inspires you as an artist? SC: I love any painting that is good, regardless of the style. How do you explain that I love Velasquez, and at the same time I like Van Gogh? They have nothing to do with each other, [but with] anything that is well done, I feel excitement. Not excitement that comes from the bucket, but excitement that comes from the heart. LJVN: What is your biggest accomplishment? SC: Teaching is very, very rewarding. You feel that people are thanking you at every second because of the effort that you make and this makes you want to make more of an effort. I feel that it’s helping people. This was my success here, and my enjoyment at the same time to be able to help so many — maybe thousands of students — here … I learn a lot by facing the problems of everybody else. I have so many people in my life and its so gratifying. LJVN: What have been your biggest challenges? SC: The most difficult thing is to paint portraits. It’s very challenging because you have to fight for everything and with everybody. You fight for the technique. You fight for the drawing. You fight for the lightness. You fight for the quality of the work, and then you have to fight for the owner of the portrait because they want to become younger … I used to paint portraits. At that time, I was very young and had a good pulse. I stopped painting portraits for this reason — I don’t have the authority and power I want to put in my strokes. With landscape, anything goes, but in portraits, you have to be very articulate … Sometimes my students [paint] small, tiny heads and things like that, and I do my best, but I don’t do the best, beautiful job that I used to do because I cannot do it anymore, especially with the small faces. LJVN: What advice do you have for someone who aspires to do what you do? SC: Teach and learn. Through teaching you’re going to learn a lot. LJVN: What do you hope for the future of your artwork? SC: I hope I will live 20 more years. I hope I will be able to produce 20 more years, but my hope is another thing from reality. I wish I could be healthy enough at least. If I cannot paint the portraits with the same authority that I used to paint, at least I can paint landscape or anything like that with the same authority. This is my dream — to be healthy enough in order to be able to produce and to teach also to my students … The thing I want is to enjoy myself and be free to do whatever I want.