Restoring Beauty Through Classical Drawing and Painting
About Chris Legaspi
Chris Legaspi is a lifelong artist with over 20 years of professional experience as a painter, author, and educator.
He trained in Los Angeles under some of the most respected American realist painters, including Steve Huston, Nathan Fowkes, Sean Cheetham, and Zhaoming Wu.
Chris’s work has appeared in advertising and visual development for major Hollywood films, including Deadpool 2, The Lord of the Rings, and Shaft. His clients include Disney, Marvel, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Pictures.
He is a popular instructor at New Masters Academy and the author of two internationally selling art books, now published in seven languages.
At the center of his work is a deep passion for figurative art and portraiture, with a lifelong devotion to classical Western realism.
More Than Art
Chris’s work is guided by a simple belief - beauty matters and beauty is divine.
He believes the human body is the most beautiful form in all of creation. This reverence for the body shapes his core values and personal life. Along with a commitment to his craft, he is passionate about health, fitness and a daily practice of fasting and prayer.
Duty & Mission
Chris believes his mission and life’s work is simple:
To restore the standard of beauty in the world.
He believes modern human society has steadily devolved and lowered its standards, especially in art, architecture, music and culture. This loss of beauty affects how people think, feel and behave. Worst of all, the ugly, modern world takes us further away from God and the divine.
He believes classical Western realism, particularly the 19th-century European tradition refined in Paris, represents the highest development of representational art. This tradition honors excellence in craftsmanship, and the beauty of the human form. The practice and cultivation of this art form not only elevates artists, but the visuals and aesthetics of the world around us.
This is why he practices this art.
This is why he teaches it.
And this is why he works to preserve and cultivate it.
Building a Sanctuary for Western Art in Asia
Chris is currently based in Thailand, where his life mission is taking physical form.
In one sentence, the goal is this:
To build the world’s first Western Art and Culture Sanctuary in Asia.
This sanctuary will be:
An academy for classical drawing and painting
A center for study, appreciation, and mentorship
A gallery and museum for masterworks
A living community devoted to beauty and craft
The work begins in Bangkok and grows outward.
The long-term vision is inspired by institutions like The Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida.
Phase one is building a strong, serious life drawing community. Phase two expands into painting, exhibitions, visiting master artists, and cultural exchange.
