From Strong Portraits To Striking Contemporary Paintings
COMPLETE is a self-paced program that takes you from portraiture to fully resolved paintings where background, composition, colour, and figure truly work together.
ENROL TODAY ⟶
COMPLETE is the only self-paced program where you learn to create contemporary abstract-figurative paintings from start to finish — from generating ideas and building strong realist portraits, to experimenting with abstract grounds, colour, and texture. Entirely based on my own studio practice.
🎥 Watch this short trailer to find out more.
This program is for artists who:
✔ Love portraiture and want to master proportions, likeness, skin tones, as well as capturing personality and emotion.
✔ Want to move beyond 'rigid' realism and loosen up their approach to painting
✔ Struggle with backgrounds and composition
✔ Want to introduce mixed media into their work.
✔ Want to learn how to generate ideas, source references, and overcome creative blocks.
✔Want to develop a personal style, not just produce careful copies.
✔Want to create a cohesive body of work for exhibition, collectors, or a professional artistic path.
✔ Want to learn directly from a practicing professional artist, not just from books or theory.
By the End of COMPLETE, You Will Be Able To:
✔ Paint beautiful portraits across different skin tones — using oil and acrylic.
✔ Create intricate backgrounds in mixed media such as gold leaf, spray paint, etc
✔ Master an effective method to merge realism with abstraction
✔ Use composition and colour strategically to create stronger paintings.
✔Know when to stop or when to push, what works and what doesn’t — and how to fix it when something feels off.
✔ Turn ideas, sketches and experiments into finished paintings.
✔Develop your own visual language.
✔ Present your work professionally
“Rosso teaches all the classical foundations of portrait painting, then gives them a contemporary twist. I went from stiff portraits to contemporary work with ‘crazy’ backgrounds.”
Sharon Blake, UK
"I'm definetely finding my own style thanks to you! ... I always feel stuck with the background but creating texture and patterns with stencils spoke to me. Also, simplifying my palette realizing that just a touch of right colour could cool everything down changed my approach"
Saniya, France
“After years away from the easel, I thought my painting days were behind me. Rosso’s guiding presence, experimental approach and focus brought the painter in me back.”
Paula Michele Wagoner, Florida
The COMPLETE curriculum mirrors my own journey — how I moved from classical portraiture to a contemporary practice that pushes realism further, integrating abstraction and mixed media. Here's how the program is structured:
PART I — MASTERING REALIST PORTRAITURE
1 · Portrait Drawing & Structure
Drawing is where solid figurative work starts. Learn the classical tools — proportions, head anatomy, form and depth — through targeted drawing exercises that train your eye to see structure before you pick up a brush.
2 · Color & Mixing Skin Tones
Colour is what comes next. Learn how light affects value, temperature, and saturation — and use that understanding to mix convincing skin tones for any complexion (white, olive, brown, black), under any lighting condition.
3 · Realist Portrait Painting
Once structure and colour are understood, we bring them into practice. Follow two complete oil portrait demonstrations — different models, different skin tones, different palettes — from drawing transfer to finished painting, including background integration.
PART II — EXPANDING INTO CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE
4 · Mixed-Media Grounds & Abstract Surfaces
This is where we start digging. Let go of control and explore layered mixed-media grounds using acrylic, spray paint, pastel, stencils, and gold leaf — the base for contemporary looking work.
5. Inside the Studio: Creativity & Process
Theory alone is not enough. Here we step inside my studio to see the practical side of my process: how I generate ideas, overcome creative blocks, develop sketches, and plan my paintings. We also look at colour theory and composition — and how to balance classical principles with intuition.
6 · From Study to Large-Scale Painting
In the final project, you bring everything together in one painting that reflects your visual language. You'll learn how to move from sketch to colour study — and transform it into a large-scale finished work, ready to hang or sell.
Each module comes with exercises, ideas, and references to help you experiment and practice at your own pace. See what's inside COMPLETE in detail:
Explore the full curriculumArtists joining RossoArtSchool come from different backgrounds but share the same goals: to transform the way they approach painting and develop their own artistic voice.
In their words:
“Rosso teaches all the classical foundations of portrait painting, then gives them a contemporary twist. I went from stiff portraits to more alive, contemporary work with ‘crazy’ backgrounds, lost edges, and bolder colour. I can’t believe how much I’ve learnt so far and how motivated I feel to work hard and experiment” (Sharon Blake, UK)
“Rosso teached me to see the hidden colors - the ones you cannot see with a quick glance, and that opens your eyes to a whole different way of looking at the figure...It's nice to have a community where you can go and share ideas. Put yourself out there, you can grow, it's pretty amazing” (Justin S, US)
“It has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much. Her method is mind blowing. I learned the brush work, the patience, experimentation, not to be afraid" (Sabine R., Hawaii)
“I love Rosso style - Her Portraits really Pop” - Fritz has produced, exhibited and sold some outstanding work since learning with me (FRitz PunkArt, Germany)
Here's some of the outstanding work created by students:
If your paintings aren’t clicking — if the portraits aren’t convincing, the figures feel stuck on the background, or the painting looks stiff and disconnected — it’s not because you lack talent or creativity.
It’s a method problem.
I know this because I struggled with the same challenges.
After learning the realist portrait foundations at a classical atelier, I spent many more years in my studio testing materials, experimenting with grounds, pushing realism further. Until my work changed radically. Collectors began buying my paintings. My Instagram following grew rapidly. And artists wanted to know how I created my work.
Mastering realism and learning how to create abstract grounds are both essential — but bringing them together is a method in itself.
That’s why inside COMPLETE I show you the entire process.
Here's what's included in COMPLETE:
✔Instant access to 60+ hours of step‑by‑step video lessons and demos
✔Lifetime access to all current and future content inside COMPLETE
✔Downloadable references, guides, and checklists you can keep
✔Assignments and exercises to help you apply each concept
✔A certificate of completion at the end of the program
✔Access to the dedicated artist community
✔Subtitles in multiple languages
✔Alumni discounts and early-bird access on future events and programs
✔Email support
✔My signature BRUSH-SET* (only for enrolment in Spring )
ONCE YOU ENROL,
YOU CAN MOVE THROUGH THE CURRICULUM AT YOUR OWN PACE
*During Spring only, I will also send out a limited number of my signature brush set — created in collaboration with leading UK brush manufacturer ProArte:
The Rosso Crimson Brush Collection
A custom brush set designed in collaboration with ProArte specifically for portraiture and expressive mark-making .
This professional brush set normally retails at $110+, but it’s included FREE for artists joining COMPLETE this Spring. You’ll also receive a journal explaining how and when I use each brush throughout the painting process.
Here's a list of questions I get asked often:
What skill level is this for?
How long do I have access to the program?
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 upgrade to the Master Path later?
Can I enrol now and start later?
If you feel this program is just what you were looking for, don't hesitate! Join this Spring and receive my signature brush-set free!
Meet Rosso,
award-winning contemporary painter and founder of Rosso Art School.
I’ve been painting professionally for over 15 years and have built a global audience of more than 190,000 artists on Instagram (@rossoartist).
I have won multiple awards including the Jackson's Painting Prize, appeared twice on Sky's Portrait Artist of the Year, exhibited internationally at institutions including Mall Galleries in London and MEAM in Barcelona, and been on the cover and featured in major publications including International Artist and Colossal. My work is held in private collections worldwide, including Soho House.
I began teaching my method in person after artists asked for it — workshops in the US, Italy, France, Spain and the UK.
In 2024 I founded Rosso Art School to bring everything I learned together in one place. Since then, more than 450 artists from across the world have joined the programs.
Read more about me →
The method you'll learn here has been refined over 15 years of studio practice and through teaching artists across the world, both in person and online. I've seen it transform the work of hundreds of painters — and I'm confident it will transform yours too.
"I am very grateful to have met you. You are helping me take my work to another level. I can’t wait to see where it comes out. Thank you!!"
Craig Palmer, Florida
"I love your explanation of the axes and plane shifts on a face and although I paint portraits your method shone a whole new approach to portrait painting. Thank you for explaining this in such a clear way!!"
Janet Moule, US.
"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 faces and hands — something I never thought I would feel confident doing."
Martina Schubert, Germany
"I’m still on the drawing realism section as 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. When I’m not doing the art I’m thinking about it !"
Jill S, US
Ready To Enrol?
Learn the process that will transforms the way you paint.
Not sure COMPLETE is the right path for you? Check if my other programs are a better fit:
START
A 30hours+ program entirely focussed on Mastering realist Portriature -- proportions, mixing skin tones that look real, get the likeness right, & capture the personality of your model.
Ideal if you are just starting out.
MASTER PATH
A comprehensive mentoring program with an extended curriculum: COMPLETE plus extra monthly topics, live sessions, group critique and ongoing guidance.
Ideal if personal feedback is important to you.
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