Exquisite synthesis: The most influential portrait ever.
Starting out as an illustrator, I was known for photo-realistic beauty portraits created with airbrush, colored pencil and color paper. That evolved to a looser, more painterly style rendered with pastels. Moving on to classical drawing and painting at The New York Academy of Art, I progressed to live models—and in some cases cadavers, for the study of anatomy. From there, I pivoted to a flourishing career as magazine creative director, privileged to work with many top fashion, beauty, and portrait photographers for nearly three decades.
Now, as the one behind the camera, it has all come full-circle, the natural evolution of a life deeply immersed in the study and depiction of the human form. This phase is about exploring portraits as self-discovery, the thrill of reaching deep to capture the best in all my subjects.
–Joseph Heroun
