Soul & Spirit
Foundations Collection
2018
"A portrait study exploring the space between likeness and identity—the qualities that make a person more than what can be seen. "
The Question
What makes a portrait feel alive?
Is resemblance enough to capture a person—or is there something more that must be felt?
About the Work
A portrait can resemble a person without truly feeling like them.
For me, portraiture has always been about searching for something beyond physical likeness.
The shape of the face, the features, the expression, and the way light falls across the figure can tell us something about a person. But they are only the beginning.
There is also personality.
Character.
Emotion.
Presence.
And something more difficult to describe—the quality that makes each individual feel unmistakably themselves.
Soul & Spirit was inspired by a renowned Polish classical guitarist. While creating his portrait, I found myself thinking about this distinction between representing a person and capturing something of their presence.
A successful portrait, to me, should feel as though there is someone living within the painted surface.
Not simply a likeness.
Not simply an arrangement of features.
But a sense of the individual behind them.
That invisible quality is what gives a portrait its life.
Looking Closely
The expression
A subtle expression can reveal more about character than a perfectly rendered likeness ever could.
The eyes
The eyes become a point of connection between the painted figure and the viewer.
The handling of light
Light helps define the physical form while also shaping the emotional presence of the portrait.
The character
Look beyond the individual features and consider what impression the whole person leaves behind.
The space between likeness and presence
At what point does a painted representation begin to feel like someone rather than simply look like them?
From the Studio
Every painting teaches me something I wasn’t expecting.
While working on Soul & Spirit, I kept returning to a question that continues to interest me as a portrait painter:
How do you paint something that cannot actually be seen?
We can study anatomy.
We can measure proportions.
We can carefully observe colour, light, and expression.
But personality and character cannot be measured in the same way.
They reveal themselves gradually—in a gesture, a gaze, a posture, or perhaps in something as subtle as the way someone carries themselves.
That is what makes portraiture endlessly fascinating to me.
We are painting the visible while searching for something invisible.
Perhaps that is why the most compelling portraits can feel as though they contain a presence beyond the paint itself.
Pause & Reflect
When you look at a portrait, what makes you feel that you are meeting a person rather than simply looking at an image?
Can you capture someone’s character without knowing their story?
What qualities make someone unmistakably themselves?
Within the Collection
Soul & Spirit belongs to the Foundations Collection, a body of work created during an important period of artistic development.
These paintings represent the years in which I was developing my understanding of portraiture, observation, light, and craftsmanship while exploring what it means to create a convincing human presence on canvas.
This work reflects one of the questions that became increasingly important to my practice:
A portrait may begin with likeness, but where does it become something more?
The search for that answer continues to influence how I approach portraiture today.
Studio Notes
2018
Oil on Canvas
16 × 20 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Subject
Polish Classical Guitarist
Availability
Available
$10,000
Continue Exploring
If You Listen, You’ll Hear It – The Guitarist
← Explore the Collection
Portraits of Influence
Ali Abdaal →
Acquisition
Interested in making Soul & Spirit part of your collection?
For acquisition inquiries, please contact the studio.