He was educated in the city of Popayán, Colombia and then began his formal study of painting at the Escuela de Bellas Artes, in the capital Bogotá.

In 1929, he was awarded a scholarship by the Colombian government and traveled to Paris to continue his studies in painting at the prestigious Académie Julian, under the direction of Paul Albert Laurens (1870–1934).

He knew composer Antonio Maria Valencia (1902–1952) who suggested that Espinosa move his small academy of painting to the newly founded Cali's School of Fine Arts; then Espinosa founded the Visual Arts School in 1934, created by Resolution No 32 of the City Council, in the opposite street of the Municipal Theater of Cali, now occupied by Pro-Arts.

Shortly after, Matjasic Roko a Yugoslav artist moves from Chile to our school to teach the classes of mural and color theory.

Espinosa is recognized nationally and internationally as an artist that mastered the technique of oil painting, and watercolor mural.