Cervantes was born in Mexico City, growing up in the Colonia Roma neighborhood with eleven sisters.[2][3] Just after he left school, he went to live in the Valle del Yaqui in Sonora, fascinated by the structure of saguaro cactus.[4] Cervantes had his first individual show called Cerámica y terracotas policomadas at the Galería Excélsior in Mexico City in 1958.[3] His most important and best-known works include Sol de piedra (Centro Ceremonial Otomí, Temoaya, 1980), Sinuosidad (Toluca, 1980), Trayectoria del acero (Mexico City, 1978); Los cuatro puntos cardinales (Mexico City, 1976), El águila y la serpiente (1974),[5][6] as well as Sirena y Astronauta and El hombre y la pesca.In 1968, he received the acquisition prize for a sculpture named Icarus as part of the cultural program of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes for the 1968 Summer Olympics.[5] In 1969, he received an honorable mention for a torso made of silver at the Feria de la Plata in Taxco.[2][8] His mentors include sculptors Luis Ortiz Monasterio, Germán Cueto and Rodrigo Arenas .