From red donkeys to vibrant art: Fernando Dávila’s colorful journey as a colorblind painter

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — When Fernando Dávila was 8 years old in Colombia, he failed a drawing class because he painted donkeys red.

There was a reason for that: He is colorblind.

Now the 72-year-old Dávila is an established and respected artist whose vibrant paintings have been exhibited in South America, Europe and the United States.

“I have the most wonderful job in the world, which is painting every morning,” Dávila said from his studio in a Miami suburb. “To mix colors. To have joy to share with the world, that’s really my passion.”

He started off painting only in black and white until he was around 30 years old because of his colorblindness, a congenital condition which makes it difficult for people to tell the difference between certain colors, particularly red and green, and shades of color. There is no cure for the condition, which for Dávila also makes the colors pink, violet, turquoise and yellow-green confusing.

Since the mid-1980s, Dávila has painted in color through the help of glasses developed by an ophthalmologist in New York, where Dávila was living at the time. One lens is transparent and the other is shaded red, and they help him discriminate between contrasting shades that normally blur together. With the lenses, he can see almost two-thirds of the colors, but without them he only sees around 40% of the colors.

Dávila compared his condition to having a box of chocolates but only being able to eat a sample of the selection. He says he has such a strong desire to see every color.

“It’s something that I miss in my life, that if somebody says, ‘Look at this flower,’ which is bright, bright pink, I want to do it,” he said. “It’s something that comes from my heart so passionately. I can feel the vibration of color.”

Colorblindness runs his family. A grandfather and some great uncles only saw in black and white, while his mother and her three sisters also were colorblind even though the condition is rarer in women. His two brothers also have trouble discriminating between colors.

Dávila has spent his career in Colombia, New York and Florida. He was awarded the “Order of Democracy” by the Colombian Congress in 1999 for his contribution to the arts. He also has published two hardcover books and many catalogues about his paintings, and his work has appeared at major auctions including Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

His paintings include romantic images of men and women embracing and landscapes, often using the color blue as a foundation.

“I think color is one of the most important things in life,” he said. “And especially for me.”

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Mike Schneider in Orlando, Florida contributed to this report.