This was a portrait I completed in a studio class. This piece was created to develop skill in realism, but I found that I had begun an exploration of identity and self-expression over the long hours. On his breaks from modeling, our model Phil laughed with us between sips of ginger ale; but when the timer started again, his smile settled into a solemn expression. Though this expression betrayed little of the personality he had shown us, with each pencil stroke, he came to life on my paper. A human face is unique through a combination of genetics and experiences, and with it comes an assertion that each of our identities is uniquely ours.
