Portraiture is the category in which an artist's goal is to portray, realistically, one or more people in a painting, photograph, or sculpture. This is not necessarily limited to appearance as an artist can also show the subject's mood and character. They can also be used to portray qualities such as wealth, beauty, or power. Portraits date back to ancient Egypt and remain one of the most popular categories to this day. I will look at both a contemporary and historical portraitist to explore and compare their style, their influence and the way they chose to express their subjects. The first artist is Natalie Holland (left), who describes herself as a realist and neoclassical artist, she is a Russian-born contemporary painter who moved to Norway in 1981 before settling in London a few years ago. Working primarily using oil on canvas, his efforts go into telling a story through figurative art by focusing on the difference between the appearance of his subjects and their reality. Holland's influences include Western culture, society and media. I chose to write about this particular artist because she shares my interest in philosophy and human interaction. A quote from the artist states: Regarding my development as an artist, I share Picasso's thought: "I am not developing as an artist at all, I just am." As an artist I focus on what I want to paint, with little responsibility beyond that. As long as you paint, you develop. The painting "Sisters" by Natalie Holland, painted using oil on canvas, tells two stories and I find this painting really inspiring as it reminds us that we are all individuals and make our own choices. The painting shows two sisters who grew up the same way ye...... in the center of the card ......lour in a painting that expresses anger. But after studying these artists, I feel that it becomes a much more interesting and insightful painting when you can express whatever emotion you choose without the need to use a certain color to make it more obvious what you are trying to portray. Works Cited http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Post-Impressionism-Art-History-101-Basics.htm https://www. khanacademy.org/ humanities/art-history/art-history-1848-1907-industrial-revolution-ii/post-impressionism/v/vincent-van-gogh--the-bed--1889 http://www. nationalgallery.org.uk /artists/vincent-van-gogh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_Eternity's_Gate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natalie_Holland http://www.natalie-holland .com/http: //smarthistory.khanacademy.org/van-goghs-self-portrait-with-bandaged-ear.html