Fileteado Porteño: Illustration and Ornamentation of Posters

A course by Alfredo Genovese , Painter and Illustrator

Painter and Illustrator. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Joined November 2016

Learn to design and paint a poster with a traditional art technique from Buenos Aires

100% positive reviews (307)
5,629 students
Audio: Spanish
Spanish · English · Portuguese

Learn to design and paint a poster with a traditional art technique from Buenos Aires

Alfredo Genovese, a painter and teacher specialized in the filete porteño technique applied to packaging, advertising, body painting, and tattoos teaches you what exactly this style is and how to make a poster from start to finish with this technique.

Learn about the history of the filete technique and its applications, draw its main iconographic elements, and discover the rules that govern the design of this traditional painting technique with synthetic enamel and long-haired brushes.

If a tango is a sad thought that can be danced, a filete is a happy thought that can be painted. (Ricardo Gómez, filete artist).

Fileteado is a pictorial and traditional art technique that was born in Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century to embellish cars, trucks, and urban buses (called colectivos) and that over time became the iconographic emblem that best represents the city. The word filete derives from the Latin filum, which means thread, and refers to a line that serves as decoration.

It's characterized by highly stylized forms, the use of bright colors, and a dense composition. These pieces also include text, which can be witty phrases, poetic sayings, or names drawn in ornate Gothic or cursive letters.

The painter who decorated cars was called a fileteador and carried out this type of work with long-haired brushes or filete brushes. Over time, fileteado became a particular type of design that was applied to advertising, body painting, and tattoos.

In December 2015, the filete porteño technique was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Unesco.

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What will you learn in this online course?

22 lessons & 20 downloads

  • 100% positive reviews (307)
  • 5,629 students
  • 22 lessons (4h 7m)
  • 20 additional resources (15 files)
  • Online and at your own pace
  • Available on the app
  • Audio: Spanish
  • Spanish · English · Portuguese
  • Level: Beginner
  • Unlimited access forever

What is this course's project?

In this course, create a poster with the filete technique to use as a graphic piece for your portfolio.

You can also use this technique for some of your own designs or in any lettering, calligraphy, or illustration project.

Projects by course students

Who is this online course for?

Illustrators, designers, lettering artists, calligraphers, painters, and creatives who are interested in learning about the filete porteño technique and style.

Requirements and materials

All you need is curiosity. No prior knowledge is required for this course.

As for materials, you will need: a pencil, A4 sheets of paper, tracing paper, wood paper, white and yellow chalk, charcoal, a sewing needle, talc, a 3mm MDF or multi-laminated panel (although you can do it on other supports if you prefer), long-haired brushes (for lettering or fileteado), synthetic enamel in various colors, a foam rubber roller, a thinner, and transparent varnish.


Reviews

5,629 Students
307 Reviews
100% Positive ratings
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Alfredo Genovese

A course by Alfredo Genovese

Teacher Plus
Painter and Illustrator

Alfredo Genovese is a filete painting teacher born in Buenos Aires. During his years as a student at the faculty of fine arts, he realized with astonishment that the filete technique was not included in the curriculum, so he decided to take classes with the teacher León Untroib, changing his profession as a lettering artist to a filete artist.

After finishing a doctorate in painting, he lived in Italy for two years and traveled through Africa and Asia, incorporating new techniques into his work such as artistic screen printing, mural painting, and trompe l'oeil elements.

He later went on to create his own studio in Buenos Aires called Taller de Fileteado Porteño and made contact with one of the last master car fileteadores, Ricardo Gómez, who taught him the craft of decorating cars.

After experimenting with traditional supports, Genovese worked on transferring his filete designs to the human body with an advertising campaign for Muchmusic, adorning the bodies of models and prominent musicians from Argentina.

In the advertising sector, he has also worked for brands such as Nike, Evian, Red Bull, Mercedes Benz, Coca-Cola, and Alfajores Havanna. In the publishing world, he illustrated the covers of Alejandro Dolina's books and has worked for magazines such as Wipe, Club del vino, elgourmet.com, and Clarín's Ñ editions, among others.

Together with tattoo artist Claudio Momenti, he introduced filete art to tattooing, with his work in this medium being highly regarded nowadays.

Since 1997, he has taught courses and given lectures on the filete porteño technique and published three books about his research in the field of filete iconography.

On June 28, 2012, Buenos Aires City Council declared him an Outstanding Personality of Culture.


Content

  • U1

    Introduction

    • What is the fileteado porteño and what do I do?
    • Influences
    • Some works and bibliography I
    • Some works and bibliography II
  • U2

    Drawing the idea

    • Facing a project
    • The Drawing, the basis of everything 1
    • The Drawing, the basis of everything 2
    • The Drawing, the basis of everything 3
    • Design of a simple filleted composition 1
    • Design of a simple filleted composition 2
    • The volume in drawing 1
    • The volume in drawing 2
  • U3

    Designing the poster

    • Design of a poster
    • Materials and preparation of the support 1
    • Materials and preparation of the support 2
    • Stroke exercises to warm the hand
  • U4

    We start painting!

    • Flat colors
    • Painting of light planes 1
    • Painting of light planes 2
    • Application of shadows
    • Glitter paint
    • Final tips
  • FP

    Final project

    • Fileteado porteño: illustration and ornamentation of posters

What to expect from a Domestika course

  • Learn at your own pace

    Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.

  • Learn from the best professionals

    Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.

  • Meet expert teachers

    Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.

  • Certificates
    Plus

    If you're a Plus member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.

  • Get front-row seats

    Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.

  • Share knowledge and ideas

    Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.

  • Connect with a global creative community

    The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.

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FAQs

Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.

All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.

The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.

You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.

If you're a Plus member, when you complete a course you've purchased, you'll instantly get your personalized certificate. You can see all your certificates in the Certificates section of your profile. You can download your certificates as PDFs and share the link online. Learn more about certificates.
Fileteado Porteño: Illustration and Ornamentation of Posters. Illustration, Calligraphy, and Typography course by Alfredo Genovese

Fileteado Porteño: Illustration and Ornamentation of Posters

A course by Alfredo Genovese
Painter and Illustrator. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Joined November 2016
  • 100% positive reviews (307)
  • 5,629 students