Portraits

Portrait art was, before photography, the one way we can recognize important figures in history. Think of Mozart, Beethoven, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and so many more. I wonder if the artist felt pressure to capture as true a representation as possible. Or, if they took liberties. If you Google George Washington, you will see, indeed they took liberties. The only way we know what George really looked like is a death mask (a plaster cast applied right after death).

I do not have the gift of capturing realism in my work, but I find it is so freeing that I don't have to worry about capturing a true representation of a person. Though, I have tried to match photos as closely as I can. Here are a few examples. What do you think a portrait should be?