When I look around me as I go through my day, or delve into the reference books on my shelf for an image to illustrate and hone my skills, I conclude with no uncertainty that our creator is the greatest artist of all time. So many beautiful faces.
Creating a representation of one of those beautiful faces would be defined as portraiture.
Portraiture has been around for centuries and the reasons for these depicitons as well as their styles have been varied. They range from being aquired to show status and wealth to being given as gifts of rememberance, down to a reason mentioned in this linked article which I found a bit humorous: to aid in the search for a potential wife.
Thankfully that wasn’t how my spouse chose me, but what we see in each other’s faces does have great bearing on how we relate to one another.
When I’ve selected my medium and paper or canvas and focus on the face I’m about to depict I’m reminded not only of the immeasurable beauty in the vast differences of characteristics in the peoples of this Earth, but also to take note and appreciate them when I come face to face with them on the street.