João Abreu Lopes
- 18 hours ago
- 4 min read
João Abreu Lopes is a painter based in Évora, Portugal. He was born in Lisbon, studied graphic design, and worked at a traditional animation studio in Cologne before spending years in post-production and motion design. He left all of that for oil painting. Abreu Lopes makes digital mock-ups before he starts but his favourite details are usually the ones that don't match the plan. He moved from Lisbon to the countryside, and now finds most of his ideas walking his dog through fields or through the streets of Évora.
Q: You went from graphic design and animation to oil painting. What's the story behind that?
A: Somehow, like many in my generation, graphic design seemed like the "safer" path into a career in the visual arts. Although I enjoyed it, I was always more drawn to drawing, comics, animation, and occasional painting experiments. At one point, I met a friend who worked in animation and became fascinated by the process.
After graduating in Graphic Design, I wanted to explore opportunities abroad and was fortunate to work at an animation studio in Cologne, Germany (TrickStudio Lutterbeck GmbH). There, I realized that while I loved animation, producing countless drawings for movement wasn't quite for me. What stayed with me was the sense of narrative.
I shifted toward illustration, where storytelling could be captured in a single image. Painting, especially oil, had always been a goal, and when I finally committed to it, I discovered it was my truest form of artistic and personal expression.
Q: You left Lisbon for Évora. Has that quieter environment changed what you paint?
A: Yes, definitely. It changed not only what I paint, but also when I truly started painting. Before moving to Évora, I spent time in Serpa, an even quieter, more rural town. There, I finally found the time and peaceful environment to develop my painting process. Walking my dog through fields and crops became an important source of inspiration, a way of gathering details, background scenes, characters, or simply visually appealing elements.
That habit continued in Évora. I still find many of my ideas while walking through the city, where small moments or overlooked details often spark an initial concept. I think these quieter places, compared to Lisbon, naturally draw my attention to subtle elements I might otherwise miss amid the noise of a big city.
Q: You make digital mock-ups before you paint. How close does the finished painting stay to that blueprint?
A: Depends, but I would say that most of the time it's pretty close. My background in design and illustration gave me strong photo-montage skills, which allow me to test and develop a solid idea of what I intend to achieve. But it's only when the work moves onto the painting surface that things begin to change. As tones and oil paints react in their own way, the image starts to take natural turns and develop a life of its own. The more I paint, the more I feel free from the digital reference, not only from painting to painting, but often within the same piece. I start with the mock-up in mind, but along the way I look at it less and less, gradually distancing the work from the original reference. My favourite details are usually the ones that don't match the mock-up.
Q: There's something unsettling under the surface of your paintings. How deliberate is that?
A: In a way, I've always been visually attracted to strong contrasting forces or emotions. I tend to enjoy how contradiction can create a kind of natural harmony and a compelling aesthetic, whether it's quiet and loud, light and dark, calm and violent, or even hate and love. In a sense, opposites are often closer to each other than we think.
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong."
– Carl Jung
So although it isn't always deliberate, that tension usually ends up guiding the work in that direction.
Q: You spent years working in animation and post-production. Does that eye for sequence and timing show up in the paintings?
A: Yes, I think so. One of the most important aspects of both animation and post-production is carrying the intended narrative through to its concept, and I like to think of my paintings in a similar way, not just in terms of the action itself, but also the composition and how elements interact to create a form of narrative, though not a clear one. That is usually not my main intention, but rather to create a narrative open to interpretation by the viewer.
When I look at a painting, one of my favourite things is constructing my own story from what I'm seeing. If my work can offer that same experience to someone else, then I'm quite happy with it.
Q: What's next for you? Anything on the horizon?
A: Recently, I started teaching and so far it's been a very fulfilling experience. I really enjoy the mutual exchange of knowledge and perspectives.
When it comes to painting, I still feel I'm at the beginning of this creative journey. It's quite different from my previous work paths and experiences, so at this stage I think the best approach is to let it develop in a natural, unforced way. I'm curious to see where it might lead, and I think that's a good thing. We'll see.
