Academy leadership
Founder of the London Academy of Arts since 2009. Cristian developed its traditional fine-arts direction, structured syllabi and progressive teaching systems, while directing teachers and maintaining artistic standards.
The artist
Cristian De La Peña, MFA
Academic realist artist, fine arts educator and academy founder, trained in the American and French 19th-century atelier tradition.
Drawing by hand since 1998
Quiet observation, translated by hand.
Cristian earned his Master of Fine Arts at the Grand Central Academy of Art in New York. His work follows the discipline of the American and French nineteenth-century atelier: drawing first, seeing clearly, and building every image through proportion, value, form and composition.
In 2009 he founded the London Academy of Arts, developing its curriculum, directing teachers and training artists through a rigorous progression of fundamentals. His practice reaches beyond portraiture into painting, figurative art, art direction, critique and curation.
The incredible portraits in the gallery are samples drawn entirely by hand from celebrated actors, musicians and sporting figures.
Begin a commission
MFA
Master of Fine Arts, Grand Central Academy of Art, New York (1998–2002)
2009
Founder of the London Academy of Arts, directing teachers and curriculum
1998
Professional fine-arts practice in drawing, painting and realism
45+
Countries — international and high-profile private clients
Inside the atelier
A life built around the practice of seeing.
Drawing, painting and teaching meet in the studio. Every commission begins with close observation and ends as a signed original work made by hand.
A living tradition
The atelier in motion.
Real classes, working easels, painting demonstrations and the community Cristian has built around close observation.
Background & curriculum vitae
Artist, educator and academy founder.
Teaching practice
His instruction is grounded in observation, proportion, value, form, composition, perspective and colour. He has led teacher-training courses alongside hands-on critique, mentoring and curriculum development.
International practice
Professional work since 1998 has spanned academic drawing, painting, figurative realism, art direction, consulting and curation, with private and high-profile clients across Europe and the Americas.
Selected recognition
Cristian received an offer to become Director of the Swedish Academy of Realist Art. His wider leadership experience includes directing teams of more than fifteen people with an emphasis on exacting standards and ethical instruction.
1998–2002
Master of Fine Arts
Grand Central Academy of Art · New York
2000–2004
Marketing & Business Administration
ESIC Business & Marketing School
2002–2003
Film & Visual Effects
FX Animation Barcelona 3D & Film School
“The discipline is in learning to look long enough.”
Drawing practice
Graphite studies
From a live sitting or a carefully chosen photograph, each likeness is built slowly through line, edge and tonal structure.
Beyond graphite
Colour & painting
Oil studies, portraiture and studio experiments reveal the wider practice behind the commissioned drawings.
Languages
English · Spanish · Italian
Native English and Spanish · Advanced Italian
01
Drawn by hand
No digital filters or automated generation.
02
Atelier trained
Classical 19th-century methods of observation and tone.
03
Made to endure
An original signed work, prepared with care.
Collector notes
Words from our collectors.
I gave Cristian's portrait of my wife to her on our fortieth anniversary. She went quiet, then laughed, then cried. It is the most beautiful thing in our house.
The likeness is remarkable, but the care behind it is what I recommend to people. Cristian asked questions, listened, and treated one photograph like it mattered.
I have ordered three portraits from this atelier and every one reads like a photograph you cannot stop looking at. Highly recommended, without hesitation.
I commissioned a portrait of my late father for my mother's birthday. She has not taken it off the wall since. The shading is so tender it looks like the room is breathing. Five stars, from all of us.
The drawing of my daughter is the finest thing we own. The tone, the likeness, the signature — it feels like a museum piece in our home. I am already planning the next commission.
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Private commissions
Your photograph, interpreted by Cristian’s hand.
Choose a portrait format, reserve a studio date and privately share your reference photographs.