About Alai Ganuza

When I was four and visited relatives, I wanted to work and study with them, "like the grown ups". They used to give me some crayons and papers to "study" with them so I could feel included. That's how I started to paint.

Artist Alai Ganuza in her studio, smiling while painting with oils and preparing her color palette, surrounded by brushes, art supplies, and warm studio lighting

I grew up loving science and color at the same time. Curiosity was off the roof, but financial hardship and caregiving responsibilities had me grounded. This made me strong and resilient, but it also kept me away from art, my passion. "Painting won't pay the bills,"... they said.

Always pragmatic, I studied physics at the University, balancing studies and life. When my grandparents passed away, I felt lost and purposeless. I wanted to give up on my education.

From physics to fine arts

  • Cute illustrated atom icon with smiling particles, symbolizing Alai Ganuza’s transition from science to art.

    My SO realized that painting was my fuel. I loved video games and making fan arts of their characters, and he encouraged me to make a switch. Instead of leaving Uni, I could study design and illustration and reconnect with my passion.

  • Cute illustrated icon showing the evolution from a League of Legends logo and chat bubble to a framed painting, symbolizing Alai Ganuza’s shift from digital design to traditional art.

    I entered and graduated in Fine Arts, and everything started to take shape.I learned materials, techniques, and history, but I found my passion with oil paints. Like most newbies, I thought realism was the goal in painting, and I developed the skill and patience for hyperrealism, but that wasn't fulfilling me at all.

Finding my artistic voice

  • In 2020, just before graduation, I started painting small and daily. I needed to find what I liked. Maybe influenced by science, I needed patterns and common factors I could analyze. The pragmatic mindset slowly left room for intuition and emotion. I started experimenting with visible brushstrokes, saturated color, and the feeling of a moment more than its photograph. That healed my inner kid.

  • I decided to document the process online, and many people around the world emphasized and followed. Short tutorials became longer videos, then a YouTube channel, and later my own courses. Repetition, curiosity, and community changed my practice.

Today

  • Today I am lucky to still work from my childhood home, which is now a renovated professional studio. I travel for international workshops, art fairs, and retreats... Feels surreal being part of this community, where more than 800k decided to press "follow".

  • I paint in oils and digitally, and I offer my work as original pieces and as art prints for collectors who prefer that format. My practice lives at the intersection of color, light, and everyday life. I try to paint honestly and to teach in a way that helps others find their own voice.

CV, Media and Milestones

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

  • January: Hit 10k on Instagram.
  • April: AlaiGanuza, as a brand, was born.
  • April: Reached 100k on Instagram.
  • May: Launched YouTube channel and Patreon.
  • September: Reached 200k on Instagram.
  • October: Record of the first Domestika Course.
  • November: Conference in Barandiarán High School about entrepreneurship for Leioa Behargintza.
  • December: Featured in Leioa local magazine.

2020

  • July: Graduated in Fine Arts Degree at University of Basque Country.
  • Speciality in Painting.
  • October: Master Copy from live course with Luis Candaudap in Museo de Bellas Artes Bilbao.
  • October: featured in Teleberri local news in television.

Teaching and Sharing: the importance of Community

I never paint alone. Every piece carries the voices of the people who showed up, learned with me, asked questions, and decided to live with my work. Some are students with curiosity and shared passion. Some are collectors who saw a memory in a brushstroke and took it home as an original or a print. Or maybe I am an overthinker. But all of this take shape in my studio.

Community is how my work grows. When I share a process video, you tell me what clicked. When a workshop ends, I learn as much as I teach. When someone commissions a painting or chooses a print, I hear why it matters, and that story changes how I look at color the next day. Your feedback, your tries and errors, your small victories, they keep this practice honest.

I want this to be a place where beginners feel welcome and experienced artists feel challenged. Where we talk about materials, but also about doubt and momentum. Where a YouTube comment turns into a study, a message becomes a lesson idea, and a retreat becomes a group of friends who keep painting together even with miles in between.

If you are here, you are part of this. Whether you learn through my courses, visit an exhibition, join a workshop, or simply follow along, thank you for walking this path with me.

ABOUT ALAI GANUZA

Frequent Asked Questions

What's the name of your style?

I wish I knew :) I guess we'll have a proper name for a hundreds years later, as I am not the only one painting with vibrant and loose brushwork!

Meanwhile, let me describe some of the characteristics my work have.

I like to paint real stuff but in a colorful way, enhancing what I see. I love to leave my brushwork visible, without blending it too much. For that, I use oil paints. They creates nice happy accidents that make the painting more interesting.

If you want to learn more on my color theory or techniques, check out my courses and platforms.

Can I study your work in my class assignment? Can I use your work for teaching purposes?

Yes. I'd be honoured! If you need any more info, feel free to send me a mail to hello@alaiganuza.com or if you find me busy, dm me on Instagram: informal but quick!

How long have you been painting?

I doodled like everyone else since I was a kid. But since I studied science, I have not painted much until 2015 when I entered Fine Arts Degree at University. But it was not much, random and unmotivated. It wasn't until 2020 when I started painting daily small things as described in the bio. I learnt more in that year by myself than in the previous years in uni. And now, now I paint more than ever.

Shortly, I usually answer around 6 years :)

Do you offer courses?

Yes. I created a big online learning platform called AlaiGanuza Academia. But I also offer workshops online and offline, painting retreats, tours, and Patreon.

Teaching is an important part of my career, and I enjoy it a lot. You can find more information on this website.

Do you sell your digital brushes?

I am shocked to know that many people visit my website looking for my brushes.

Interestingly, when I paint digital, I paint with native brushes of different digital apps. Instead of selling the brushes, which cannot be possible even if I wanted to, I have an online course teaching how I use native brushes to paint my tradigital stlye. You can find more information on this website.