Portrait of Mike Painting

I've been drawing since I was little and love that I can get lost in it. I grew up in a family that encouraged it. My mother took me to art classes and there was an art gallery we walked through to get to class. I can still remember all these beautiful paintings and sculpture and it would fascinate me. I studied art in high school and in college. I started getting commissions in college for portraits, portraits usually of children and I started to see the directions art can take. Portraiture is a love of mine and there's so many ways to approach it. It expanded my love of figurative work and I feel able to express myself through it. I turned to realism naturally but I love all styles and forms of art. I hope that I am able to bring someone else into my world with art. I think that's the best part of it, if I am able to move someone or make them think, that's what it is all about for me.