Drawing a detailed portrait, especially of a close friend, can be a very powerful and unusual experience. When I’m choosing what angle or lighting to use for the drawing, I need to leave thinking behind and rely purely on feeling. Reasoning always lets me down. Once I start rendering, I only become aware of the light and dark pattern, and textures before me. I often forget who I’m drawing or even that I’m drawing a person. At some point, the magic occurs, and the pattern becomes a likeness that has a bit of heart to it. After the drawing is complete, I feel a higher level of closeness with that person, but I doubt they feel the same.

Thinking is not often your friend. One of the two worst things (and they’re very similar) you can think about while making portraits is, “Uh-oh, this isn’t coming out well.” That self-judgement kills the project before it begins. And almost as bad is, “Hey, this is starting to really come out great.” When you hear this, you no longer have the awareness you need.

Most people see themselves as a reflection in the mirror, which a portrait is not, so some confusion can occur. For some corporate clients with particularly large egos, I draw a flopped version so it looks like what they see in the mirror. Their staff will question it, but it often brings comfort to the boss. From tiny postage stamp portraits to the big black and white images here, I’ve drawn at least 1500 portraits over my career.

Four of these portraits were drawn for the “Elders Project” for Vashon Allied Arts, in 2013.

The assignment? Create portraits that evoke the respect you have for a few of your Vashon role models.

Favorite memory: One of my subjects contacted me and requested to purchase the original art, which is unusual. It turned out to be the English Royal Family’s official portraitist. He’d never had his own portrait created.