How I Painted a Portrait and a Fairytale Composition. Painting Childhood. Portrait Commission. 

This painting was commissioned by Anthony DeStefano (Bestselling Author of Children's Books).
I leave you with the testimonial Anthony DeStefano wrote about the painting:
My goddaughter is turning 4 years old. I love her very much, and wanted to give her and her family a birthday present that would capture not only her personality- which is bursting with joy and exuberance- but also the unique time of life she is living. So I started searching for the right artist- someone who could realistically portray the way she looks now, but at the same time symbolically and allegorically represent the “idea” of childhood. This was no small ambition- to commission a painting of Childhood, itself! After looking for a long time, I finally found the perfect artist. Cesar Santos is a Master of painting, in the old, classic sense of the word. He has a brilliant, Renaissance mind to match his blazing talent. He imagined my goddaughter in a fairytale-nature setting, with her two adoring dogs staring up at her, as if she were the center of the universe (which, of course, all children are at that age). He painted the River of Life at her feet, and the pages of the Book of Life being swept up into a wind that carries all children away from their innocent childhoods towards youth and adulthood so terribly quickly. And by including the flowers, the open fields, the caterpillar and the butterflies (beautiful images of metamorphosis), the ducks flying in the air, and finally, the vegetable/pumpkin patch- growing too, into the shape of a Cathedral- he provided us with the whole story of the hope of humanity: that our children will be blessed with a sacred, joyful, magical childhood- but that they will then grow up into magnificent human beings- as magnificent as the Duomo Cathedral in Florence. I say again, Cesar Santos is a Master!
Anthony DeStefano
Bestselling Author
www.anthonydestefano.com
Instructional Videos: cesarsantos.com/
Follow me:
on Instagram - / santocesart
on Twitter - / santocesart
on Facebook - goo.gl/DU3oyS
Check out my art - www.santocesar....
Video gear, lighting and other useful links:
Camera: goo.gl/8wut2N
Canon lens: goo.gl/rVZQx1
Sigma lens for Canon: goo.gl/6iQ6CB
Another Sigma Lens for Canon: goo.gl/JcBfzE
Canon Zoom Lens: goo.gl/uGWE7M
Gimbal: amzn.to/2oHltEu
Mic 1: amzn.to/33IGeOX
Mic 2: goo.gl/QEp4ya
Tripod: goo.gl/LbyX7u
JOBI gorilla pod: goo.gl/ULcRFm
Lights: goo.gl/rRsqGR
Bulbs: goo.gl/A4d95P
Disclaimer: some of the links above are affiliate links