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, a