Cesar Santos: Secrets of Portrait Painting

Haga clic aquí para la versión subtitulada en Español

Video Length:19 hours

There is nothing that compares to the joy artists feel when they’ve painted a beautiful portrait of someone special. Just imagine painting an incredible portrait of such high quality that you don’t hesitate for one moment to show it off, either giving it as a treasured gift or selling it for top dollar.

For many painters, portraits are off-limits — they can be too difficult and require a lot of time, only for the artist to be unhappy with the results. Capturing lifelike features, flesh tones, and expressions can be frustrating, and difficult to correct along the way.

There is now a way to learn portrait painting that is easier than ever and will take the mystery out of this beautiful art form. You will want to discover these secrets for yourself right away, and now you can.

Streamline Publishing is proud to partner with Art Renewal Center to bring you Secrets of Portrait Painting with ARC Master Artist and Salon winner Cesar Santos.

In his early childhood in Cuba, Cesar, always interested in creative arts, built mud sculptures in the rain and used his imagination to invent toys. At the age of 12, after immigrating with his family to Miami, he dreamed of a future as an artist. Even while participating in the sport of boxing and attending a magnet high school for architecture, his first love was always fine art.

After attending art school and learning a contemporary view of post-impressionistic principles, Cesar wanted to understand the scientific aspects of painting, so he set off to the Angel Academy in Florence to learn more. He took that knowledge and, combining it with what he had learned earlier, developed his own unique personal style that reflects both modernism and traditionalism.

In this extended video, containing more than 19 hours of content, follow along with Cesar as he expertly guides you through each step of preparing, creating, and finishing a portrait painting.

Using his systematic approach, Cesar resolves the difficulties many artists encounter when painting portraits. He’ll show you the proven techniques he has developed over many years of studying in great schools and academies and learned from talented teachers worldwide.

 

Cesar breaks down the process of portrait painting into four stages:

• Drawing and constructing
• Dead coloring
• Creating a first painting
• Creating a second painting

In each stage, Cesar not only demonstrates what he routinely does in his own work, he explains in detail why he does it that way and the advantages of those methods. You can then take the information and incorporate it into your own paintings. Soon you’ll be painting beautiful portraits that are sure to be enjoyed for generations to come.

Watch as Cesar skillfully paints a realistic portrait, from start to finish, interpreting each physical feature and developing flesh tones with great precision.

Because of Cesar’s uniquely teachable approach, this video is appropriate and useful for all skill levels, from the beginner to the master artist who wishes to understand more about painting outstanding portraits.

The skills Cesar teaches are unique, yet universally applicable, and you will find them to be a natural way of building and creating a portrait you can be proud of.

Learn along with Cesar as he shows you:

• His own color palette, including specific brands, and how to mix colors to keep your painting realistic.
• What brushes and tools to use and why. You’ll never have to wonder if you’re making the right choice again.
• How different techniques can be used with different media. The possibilities are endless.
• His secrets to taking a practical, simplified approach when creating portraits. From start to finish, he leaves no question unanswered.
• How not to get distracted from what is important in your paintings. Many artists make these mistakes and end up unhappy with their work.
• The universal knowledge and skills he has gained through many years of studying across the world. You get to benefit from his unique blend of tradition and science.
• Much, much more!

Not only will this video show you how to paint better portraits, you will also enjoy a showcase of Cesar’s artwork and a personal interview with the artist conducted by Art Renewal Center trustee Vern G. Swanson. Also featured is a musical composition directly inspired by the artist’s work by Brazilian composer Giacomo Lombardi.

This video will become a treasure in your own resource library and you will want to refer to it over and over as you master Cesar’s secrets of portrait painting. You can pause and practice as many times as you like until you are pleased with the results — something you cannot do when attending a live painting class.