I began doing portraiture in 2006 while I was in high school. At the time I primarily worked in black and white doing portraits of people and pets. Gradually i dove into color and I think my work is far more vibrant and has more contrast now. I try to capture the most realistic essence of the subject matter without bringing the work to a complete polish. I believe each stroke tells the story of the painting or drawing, why disguise them? i love using the background color as part of the subject forcing the viewers mind to complete the image. Most of my work is done with an assortment of color pencils and markers.