Portraits and Animals

I have always loved painting - and drawing - people.  A painting is not a photograph.  We have cameras for that.  A painting, in my opinion, should be painterly.  The artist should bring out colours which were hidden, colours of both a material and a soulful nature, and should leave a little of him or herself on the canvas.  A good portrait captures the essence of a person - it is certainly what I aim to do.  The likeness is important, but even more so, in my opinion, is the personality.  I have included portraits of animals on this page, and I trust you can agree, the personalities of animals are just as defining as those of humans.  I hope you can see something of personality in these portraits.