Tony Pro

"Bathed in Light" (2015) By Tony Pro, Original Oil Female Portrait Painting

Tony Pro was born in Northridge, California in 1973. He grew up in Southern California around artists such as his father Julio Pro, who was an up-and –coming artist in the Southwest art community. Being the youngest of four children, Pro was taken all around the country to some of the biggest art shows where he met legends like Jim Bama and Frank McCarthy. As a child, he also visited many studios of famous artists such as E. Irving Couse and Nicolai Fechin.

Pro received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Graphic Design from California State University Northridge and at the same time attended California Art Institute where he studied with famed illustrator, Glenn Orbik. There he learned the value of academic figure and head drawing and how to apply strict study principles to his craft.

Pro’s influences include John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Joaquin Sorolla and Philip Alexius de Laszlo. French Naturalist artists Emile Friant, Dagnan-Bouveret and Jules- Bastien Lepage also play a large influence in Pro’s style of painting. In 2005, Pro was awarded the highly coveted Best of Show award at the 14th Annual Oil Painters of America Show, given by juror Daniel Gerhartz. That year Pro was also one of the Top 10 finalists of the Portrait Society of America Show in Washington D.C. Also that year, Pro’s painting Mother’s Love was featured on the cover of Southwest Art Magazine, as well as in a feature article.

Pro is a guest member of Richard Schmid’s Putney Painters and is currently privately teaching master classes in painting. In 2007, Pro started a production company with the release of Jeremy Lipking’s first demonstration DVD, The Portrait Sketch and in January 2010 released his own Portrait Sketch DVD.

Tony Pro is a signature member of the California Art Club