The most important part of any portrait is the face. No matter how elaborate the pose, costume or background if there is no face it really isn’t a portrait.

A head and shoulders portrait really takes the portrait down to its most important element. It is the most intimate form of all the portraits. When the viewer approaches a head and shoulder portrait that is painted near life size there is an immediate connection. It puts the viewer and the sitter face to face as if you are going to have a conversation with them. They are some of the post powerful portraits I have ever encountered.

This is a great format for a portrait if space is limited or if the desire for a portrait is to capture the sitter directly without a lot of extraneous detail.