THE COMPLETE PROGRAMME FOR THE CONTEMPORARY FIGURATIVE ARTIST
Develop your own expressive style beyond portraiture.
Building the portrait is one stage. Resolving the entire painting is another.
After teaching artists around the world, I kept seeing the same struggle. Not technique — but how to bring everything together: figure, background, colour, abstraction.
COMPLETE is my only self-paced programme where I teach my full process from start to finish — from building strong realist portraits and layered mixed-media grounds to bringing figure and surface together as one painting. Along the way, I show you how my own style took shape — so you can build yours.
Watch the video below to explore COMPLETE:
If this resonates — see how to join below:
ENROL IN COMPLETEOr keep scrolling to see everything that's inside.
WHAT COMPLETE IS
Seventeen-year studio practice. In One Place.
COMPLETE brings together everything I've learned about painting over the past seventeen years into a single, comprehensive curriculum that you can access for lifetime.
Across more than 60 hours of in-depth instruction, you'll learn not only how to paint, but how to think, develop ideas, and create work that carries your own decisions — not a copied formula.
Every part of the painting process is explored in depth through its own dedicated section: drawing, portrait painting, colour and skin tones, mixed-media grounds, composition, sourcing references, developing ideas, painting on a larger scale, and even varnishing and presenting your finished work.
This isn’t a typical online course where you follow one demonstration and move on. COMPLETE is designed for you to return to again and again as your practice evolves — because the goal isn’t to help you paint one successful picture, but to help you become a better painter.
COMPLETE is for you if:
You're just starting — or coming back to painting after a break.
You love portraiture and contemporary figurative work, but you don't know where to begin. You've watched scattered tutorials, but nothing that teaches the entire process from the ground up. You want one clear path — and the strongest possible start.
Your work feels flat — and you can't say why.
Technically, things are fine. The proportions hold, the likeness is there. But the painting doesn't breathe. It feels overworked, too controlled, lifeless — and no amount of extra refinement seems to fix it.
Your portraits and backgrounds don't connect.
You've tried combining realism with abstraction, but the results feel forced. The figure sits on top of the surface instead of belonging to it. You're looking for a method that makes the whole painting work as one.
Your technique is solid — now you want your own style.
You've done the exercises. You can paint. What you want now is freedom: to take risks, get looser and bolder, and develop work that's recognisably yours — not another well-executed study.
Here's exactly what's
inside COMPLETE
Once you enrol you have immediate access to 5 core modules — structured the way my own practice evolved: from realist portraiture to my most contemporary painting practice.
MODULE 1 - Foundations of Realist Portraiture
This module contains the core principles that underpin every successful realist portrait. If you've ever wondered why your portraits look flat, overworked, why the proportions feel off, or why they simply don't feel convincing, this is where you'll find the answers.
We'll explore the general axis, the planes of the head, skull anatomy, values, edges, and the visual principles that create the illusion of form, volume, and depth.
MODULE 2 — Drawing Realist Portraits
Drawing is where you develop the most important skills in portraiture: observation, proportion, likeness, and structure. Without the added complexity of colour, you can focus entirely on constructing the human head.
Through a series of guided drawing demonstrations and practical exercises, you'll develop portraits with confidence before ever picking up a paintbrush.
MODULE 3 — Portrait Painting in Oil
In this module I share my complete approach to developing portraits in oil — how I adapt my palette for different complexions, my full process step-by-step, the mediums and brushes I use and how I move them to reach specific results. We cover composition and introduce different techniques to finish with expressive backgrounds. Two full-length demonstrations, two models, two different complexions.
MODULE 4 - Abstract Grounds in Mixed Media
Here you learn to build layered mixed-media grounds using unconventional tools — gold leaf, spray paint, stencils, acrylics over oils — that give contemporary figurative work its distinctive edge.
You'll discover how to use texture and abstract patterns to elevate your subject, not compete with it.
MODULE 5 — Creating Original Paintings
Here we explore the complete creative process—from developing ideas through sketches and studies to creating a finished painting—and I show how I combine traditional oil painting with expressive mixed media to give the work a contemporary edge. You'll finish the module with original ideas and a clear, transferable method for transforming them into paintings or a body of work in your style.
In addition to the five core modules, you'll also find these practical lectures and in-depth analyses:
Understanding Colour
Most people see colour as just its name — red, brown, blue. But colour is more. Learn the three qualities — hue, value, chroma — that every portrait painter needs to see before even reaching for a brush.
Finding & Developing Your Ideas
Step inside my studio as I share my creative process — my sketchbooks, the exercises that turn creative blocks into breakthroughs, and how I refine ideas before a single mark is made.
Medium, Brushes & Surfaces
Learn how to use mediums and brushes — and when. You will also be guided to prepare your surfaces, whether canvas or panel, to achieve the best possible results in your paintings.
PLUS:
BONUS COURSES — INCLUDED WITH YOUR ENROLMENT
When you enrol you'll also receive access to three of my most popular specialist mini-courses:
VALUE $99 -
Sourcing Photos & Working with References
Behind every great painting is a great reference. Here I share how I built a library of over 45,000 photographs, including how I find and photograph models, source, select, and manipulate references for stronger paintings.
Learn how to create an endless source of ideas and build references that support your artistic vision.
VALUE $99 -
Skin Tones Made Simple
Here I share a simple and effective method for mixing realistic skin tones for any complexion — pale, olive, brown, or dark. By the end of the module, you'll know exactly what to look for and how to mix what you see on your palette, without guesswork and without muddy colour mixtures.
This method works with oils, acrylics, and any other painting medium.
VALUE $105 -
Painting Hair: Any Hair, Any Colour
One of the most requested modules in the program.
Over the years, I've painted every type of hair imaginable — from highly realistic portraits to bold, expressive interpretations. I share the principles, shortcuts, and techniques I use to paint any hair type, colour, or style: red, brunette, blonde, straight, curly, afro, flowing, tied up, and even bald.
Click below as I walk you inside the program:
You won't paint through this alone.
One thing I hear from artists constantly — more than any question about technique — is that painting alone is the hardest part. No one to show your work to. No one to tell you whether that background is working or why the face suddenly looks wrong. Doubt grows in silence.
So COMPLETE is built with support around it.
The moment you enrol, you join the Rosso Art School community — a private space where students share work in progress, exchange feedback, and where I regularly drop in to leave comments on what's being posted. You can also write to us by email whenever you're stuck on something specific.
And when you want my eyes on your work directly, you can request personal feedback — a written review or a Zoom session — straight from your dashboard, whenever you need it. Or choose Complete PLUS when you enrol, and four detailed written reviews across your first year are already included.
You work at your own pace. But you never work in a vacuum.
By the end of COMPLETE, here's what you'll be able to do:
— Draw and paint convincing realist portraits
— Mix accurate, vibrant skin tones for any complexion
— Understand colour beyond simple rules and formulas
— Build rich, expressive mixed-media grounds — and fuse them with the figure so the painting works as one
— Develop your own ideas into strong compositions, from small studies to large-scale work
— Create paintings that are recognisably yours — in subject, surface, and voice.
— Master a repeatable process you can apply to any painting, any size, any subject — so o you won't get stuck.
Thousands of Artists. Hundreds of Success Stories.
Over the years I've taught thousands of artists, in person and online — in workshops across the US, Europe and the UK, and now inside Rosso Art School.
Here are a few of them, in their own words:
And below, a small selection of what students have created inside Rosso Art School:
So — here's everything waiting for you inside:
THE CORE CURRICULUM
✔ 60+ hours of instruction —$945
✔ Lifetime Access + All Future Updates
✔ Assignments & Exercises
✔ Subtitles in Multiple Languages (SPANISH, POLISH, ITALIAN, FRENCH, etc)
✔ Downloadable Resources & Guides
INCLUDED BONUS COURSES
✔Sourcing Photos & References + Reference Pack — $99
✔Skin Tones, Made Simple — $99
✔Painting Hair — Any Hair, Any Colour —$105
SUPPORT AS YOU LEARN
✔ Membership to the private Artist Community — share your work, get feedback, and find my comments on student posts
✔ Email support whenever you need it
✔ Personal feedback on demand — via email or Zoom sessions, available from your dashboard
✔Certificate of Completion
✔ Discounts & Early Access — future events and workshops
COMPLETE Programme: $945
Included Bonus Courses: $303
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Total Value: $1,248
Pre-Launch Offer: $599*
*Early supporters receive the current pre-launch offer. THIS OFFER ENDS MID AUGUST.
— Martina Schubert, Germany"I have learned so much and created so many new artworks, and they have gained a whole new level of depth and expressiveness. Thanks to your guidance, I finally dare to paint textured backgrounds, beautiful portraits and even hands — something I never thought I would feel confident doing."
CHOOSE YOUR OPTION
One programme.
A lifetime of learning.
Every option includes the complete curriculum, lifetime access, and all future updates.
Once you purchase COMPLETE, you can start anytime you are ready and work at your own pace.
For Lifetime.
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Questions?
Here are the ones I'm asked most often. Write to us if something is not clear.
What skill level is this for?
I've done portrait courses before. How is this different?
How long do I have access to the program?
Will I get feedback on my work?
Is it good for acrylic painters?
I mostly paint abstractly — will this still help me?
What makes this program different than any others?
Do you offer other programs?
Can I enrol now and start later?
Didn't find your answer? Write to us.
One Last Thought
Over the years, I've seen many art schools promise that they'll help you "find your style" or "discover your artistic voice." I see it a little differently. I don't believe your artistic voice is something waiting to be discovered. I believe it's something you build.
For me, that journey began with mastering realist portraiture. The stronger my understanding of portraiture, structure and colour became, the more freedom I had to experiment and gradually create my own visual language. Realism wasn't the destination—it was the foundation.
That's why the realist part is what makes COMPLETE complete.
This programme isn't about copying a figure and then mechanically adding mixed media on top. It's about understanding the creative process from the inside out.
My goal is to get you to a place where you're no longer afraid of the canvas. Where every decision you make is intentional because you understand why you're making it. Where you become the author of your own process, able to solve problems independently and trust your own judgement.
That's where your artistic identity begins. And it never stops growing.
More experiences shared by artists who learned with me:
"Would you recommend Rosso's Program?"
Yes — and I have. The reason is Rosso herself. By looking at the work of a teacher, you quietly experience the level of craftsmanship that makes your inner voice say: this is the one — this person has something I want to learn. If you can look at Rosso's work and her process and say those words, you've found your answer.
PAT BERESKIN, US
"I never thought I could paint portraits like this"
I was very hesitant to enroll because I'd never painted a portrait before. But Rosso made skin tones so easy to understand that I completed my very first portrait—and I couldn't believe the result. I'm learning so much and loving every minute of it.
maria gabriela s, new york
"I’m receiving commissions and selling my work"
I've always loved expressive portraiture, but balancing painting with running my own hotel left me with little time. Since learning with Rosso, my work has completely transformed. I'm painting more than ever, receiving commissions, selling work, and—most importantly—I finally have a clear direction for my practice.
FRITZ FORSTNER, GERMANY
"Rosso's guiding presence and experimental approach brought the painter in me back."
After art school, motherhood, and even spinal surgery, I thought my painting days were behind me — until her mentoring reignited my passion and gave me purpose again .
PAULA MICHELE WAGONER, Florida
"This journey pushed my work to an entirely new level"
Rosso has an incredible ability to simplify complex concepts. Her process makes even the most challenging backgrounds and compositions feel achievable and above all truly enjoyable. Learning with her—both online and in person—has been truly transformative.
MARIAM SANDHU, US
"I finally love painting backgrounds!"
I always struggled with backgrounds. This program was the breakthrough. I finally understood how to make the background and the figure work together. Learning to work with texture and simplify my palette completely changed my approach.
Saniya, france
I love Rosso's demos. She explains the theory first, then shows exactly what she means while she paints, so everything just clicks. Even though my style is different from hers, I found myself applying what I learned to my own work.
Tia, US
Rosso is able to work individually with each person and gets a feeling for what your strengths are and help you improve in places where you are struggling. She makes you feel comfortable while painting.
Nicky Stefanelli (California)
"I went from stiff portraits to contemporary work with 'crazy' backgrounds."
I’m savouring every morsel of information and I can’t believe how much I’ve learnt so far and how you have motivated and excited me to work hard and experiment.
Sharon Blake
UK
I’ve felt creatively blocked since Covid — and suddenly, ideas returned. A new series is beginning. For me, this is a victory over myself. Thank you, Rosso. I’m taking steps I thought I could no longer take.
Florence Liger d’Avignon, France
"I’m savouring every morsel of information and I can’t believe how much I’ve learnt so far and how you have motivated and excited me to work hard and experiment"
Martina Schubert, Germany
Thank you, Rosso. I'm starting to understand what colours to add now to create shadows and depth. I even find myself saying the colour before you do! That makes me so happy because this has been my biggest hurdle to finishing a painting. You explain it so well—it's really sticking!
Ellen, Sweden
Now it's your turn.
COMPLETE is rolling out — you can enrol now at the pre-launch price, before the price rises.
If what you have seen resonates,
I'd love to welcome you inside.
Join COMPLETE now for $599 !
This Early Bird offer ends in:
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MEET ROSSO,
painter and founder of RossoArtSchool —
this is how it all started.
After years of practising portraiture, I became obsessed with finding a new artistic language that could bring together traditional with a contemporary media.
I spent many more years in the studio experimenting, questioning, and refining my process until things finally clicked. The work that emerged brought me international recognition through exhibitions, awards, publications, brand collaborations, and a community of more than 200,000 artists following my work online. Most importantly, it connected me with a global community of artists who wanted to learn alongside me.
As more artists began asking to study with me, I started teaching workshops across the UK, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, and beyond. The experience of teaching in person—and listening closely to what artists were struggling with—eventually led me to create Rosso Art School: a platform where students could access my teaching anytime, from anywhere.
Rosso Art School officially launched in 2024 and has since welcomed more than 450 artists from around the world.
If you'd like to see more of my personal work and artistic journey, you can explore it here: personal work.
My art has been featured in:
ROSSOARTSCHOOL IS PROUDLY SPONSORED BY:
