Since his early childhood, Barrios was deeply fascinated with nature, which perhaps came to him from his father, who used to watch over the nearby forests and protect them against illegal logging every morning.
I created my first watercolour work when I was barely seven or eight years old; evidently, back then I did not understand art or any of its concepts; I was only focused on painting and drawing.
With time, what used to be a hobby began to transform into a passion so strong that I would frequently skip class to go to the field and soothe the urge I felt to be in contact with nature.
These were the years where he would know other eminent professors as Barrios grew in the artistic environment, including Carlos Inclán and General Ignacio Beteta.
[5]: 15–17 Despite studying for seven months at the San Carlos Academy (1948), for one year (1948–1949) at the La Esmeralda School of Painting and Sculpturing, where he was the student of the renowned muralist Raúl Anguiano, Ignacio Barrios is, in strict terms, a self-taught artist who is constantly striving to renovate and remodel his work.
It is nonetheless undeniable that the artist Ricardo Bárcenas had a strong influence at the beginning of his drawing career, and that of Ignacio M. Beteta strikes at first sight in Barrios' early landscapes.
An important imprint in his work was exercised by the celebrated British painter William Turner, from whom the Mexican virtuoso took several elements which have allowed him to obtain his own textures and environments.
While his early work took him to a position of privilege amongst the most renowned landscapers, the aesthetic level he reached in the development and reproduction of human figure is no less remarkable.
Some of the most notable are: the Award to the Best Watercolour, presented to him by the Watercolour Association of Mexico (Círculo de Acuarelistas de México) for his piece "El Valle del Silencio" ("The Silent Valley"), in 1981; the José María Velasco Medal, presented by the State of Mexico in recognition of his achievements in the field of plastic arts, in 1986.
His work has been exhibited in Jamaica, United States, England, Canada, Japan, Spain, Germany, Italy, Poland, the former Soviet Union, Ukraine, Estonia, Argentina, El Salvador and Colombia.