When I was little I had a portrait drawn of me,
and though it was very nice it didn't capture my face exactly.

I am not complaining,
I am just saying.

This is why I emphasize the need for projectors,
and there are three types of projectors.

A low tech light bulb, mirror and lens thing,
that is perfectly built for projecting a photograph an a wall.

The standard office or home projector,
used for presentations and watching movies.

And and pico projector,
one that plugs into your phone.

If you have good portrait photos,
and you don't want to use your projector too much.

Get the low tech one, they are very inexpensive,
but remember your photograph needs to be good.

For comfort, get a home or office projector,
these are the brightest and have the highest resolutions.

Pico projectors work just fine,
but they are not as bright, you will need to use it at night.

The big deal about digital projectors,
is that you can edit the photo.

Cropping your source image is a big deal,
and so is adjusting brightness and contrast.

But by far the most useful computer trick,
is lowering the number of colors in your photo, often called posterize.

This will help you see where,
and WHAT! the shadows really look like.

A face is not an oval with a nose,
it is composed out of layers of shadows, basically.

Once you can see where the shadows start and end,
deepen and lighten...

...you can then capture the soul,
of the person you are drawing or painting.

Start with pencils, and blending stumps,
art pencils have a range of useful tones.

But try painting on canvas as well,
or wood panes from a local hardware store.

There is nothing to stop you from becoming an artist now,
but there is one more big step.

You have to exhibit your art,
business offices, coffee shops, galleries and shows at the local museum.

For those of you asking what is the point,
the point is a taste of greatness you get at your first big show.

More than that, your show is also your guide,
when you feel that you have finished...

You may ask your self,
is this good enough for the gallery.

And this may lead you to realize,
that the darker side of the person's face you just painted, feels empty, because it was just a shadow.

You will need to re-shoot the photo,
with the person having sparkling water droplets on their face,

Learn to paint them,
and add them in to your painting.

When you take a source photo,
you will now ask yourself: "Is this good enough for a painting I can exhibit at a show."

"Is there too much of a flat area,
should I return in the morning, when the sun passes through the currently flat trees."

You will find your own way,
for example in conquering color mixing; you may pick blue for the next 20 paintings.

People will call it your blue phase,
when you understand blue you may add red and that may become a topic for another exhibition.

At some point you will also begin mixing and composing,
adding butterflies, castles, werewolves, or a sky from a different planet in the background.

Something interesting will call to you,
and the theme will become your friend, and part of your style.

I will close with a silly warning,
I am a fan Perrier the sparkling water.

And while having a sip of the bubbly thing,
I noticed that my four foot rectangular canvas was perfect for a small bottle of Perrier.

I really enjoyed painting it,
and the color was just perfect.

However, when I exhibited my art, some fiend, scribbled,
"Andy Warhol" on the paper label beneath my painting.

I thought of his can of Campbell's piece, and immediately googled Warhol and Perrier,
whoopsie, I was not the first to frame a bottle of Perrier - lesson learned.

Make an art out of finding amazing things to draw and paint,
dive deeply to create both memorable photographs, and paintings.

And make sure you create enough artworks to fill a coffee-table book,
or an art manual where you can show your process, sketches, and photos too.

Remember, don't be a chapter,
fill the entire book.