People were the most interesting of all. Of all the secrets to unwrap, they were the most complex and compelling. I couldn’t help but constantly try to solve them. I was on a quest to paint the perfect portrait.

I realize now that goal was misguided. In fact, it was impossible.

The thing about portraits, like people, is that perfection is not actually the goal.

Instead, and it took me years and years to understand this, the goal is to capture the essence of a person. And to do that, you don’t need photoreal details in every area of a portrait. It goes deeper than that.

What I discovered on this quest is that painting the “perfect portrait” is not a matter of painting a “perfect” portrait. It’s an achievable task that comes down to a few key skills. My new mission: to share those skills with other hungry artists who want to learn.

Because everyone deserves the opportunity to unlock the magic that is creating portraits.