Blanes took an interest in drawing at this point, and shortly afterwards, was hired as an illustrator for a Montevideo news daily, El Defensor de la Independencia Americana.

Returning to Montevideo in 1861, the talented painter obtained a scholarship from the Uruguayan government, and with it, traveled with his family to Florence, Italy, where he studied under Antonio Ciseri until 1864.

His 1872 portrait of the Argentine War of Independence hero, General José de San Martín (The Review in Rancagua), was also a success in Buenos Aires, and Blanes was invited to Chile to display the historic depiction.

[1] Returning to Uruguay, Blanes undertook a portrait of the "Thirty-three Easterners", members of a revolutionary vanguard whose insurrection against Brazilian authorities resulted in Uruguayan Independence, in 1828.

Washington D.C.'s General José Gervasio Artigas statue, based on Blanes' portrait, was cast in bronze in Uruguay during World War II as a gift to the United States.