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Bouguereau study

Love on the Lookout

This painting began as a Bouguereau-inspired photoshoot to create the image to serve as the reference.

Bouguereau teaches me about beauty, philosophy, and history and mythology through his paintings. Bouguereau's paintings leave me feeling smarter, edified, and uplifted.

(2026, 18x24", on oil)

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Recent studies

currently on my easel

I'm the photographer behind the reference photos behind the paintings and drawings.

For however long I'm sitting with the drawing or painting, i'm also studying the photo. That meditative time is often spent reflecting and studying how I can improve as a photographer-in my lighting, direction, and creativity.

(in progress, 12x16", on oil)

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Michelangelo study

Pietà

This art history study began as a photoshoot; this was done with one model representing both characters, and brought together by compositing multiple photos.

I chose to have one model be both characters to represent moving on and properly mourning past versions of ouselves that need to go.

(2026, 24x18", on oil)

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Welcome to PortraitScientist

the study of portraits

Portraits are a form of make-believe,
an invitation to the imaginary,
a contextual experience where your own creativity makes it make sense,
taking you from observer to analyst,
through your own reflections and learning.

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What Makes Good Art?

Erich Fromm stated in The Revolution of Hope (1968):

"Here lies the connection between beauty and truth. Beauty is not the opposite of the “ugly,” but of the “false”; it is the sensory statement of the suchness of a thing or a person.

...All great art is by its very essence in conflict with the society with which it coexists. It expresses the truth about existence regardless of whether this truth serves or hinders the survival purposes of a given society. All great art is revolutionary because it touches upon the reality of man and questions the reality of the various transitory forms of human society."

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read more

which reminds me of Lermontov's introduction in A hero of our time (1840):

”A Hero of Our Time, gentlemen, is indeed a portrait, but not of a single individual; it is a portrait composed of all the vices of our generation in the fullness of their development.”

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Upcoming Series

Mythology Series

Myth and classical literature endure as historical narrative and as symbolic maps of the recurring psychological tensions within human experience. Rather than treating classical myth as fixed antiquity, this series approaches ancient literature as living source material—combining collaborative performance, photographic staging, and master indirect oil painting into critical visual inquiry.

Each composition isolates a foundational archetype to interrogate the friction between fate, authority, and self-delusion. The work strips away romanticized nostalgia, translating ancient texts into rigorous, contemporary allegories that invite the viewer to examine the enduring structures of their own consciousness.

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Stay tuned for the online print shop 

Custom prints

shop coming soon

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