Hello, my name is Gary Thompson and I'm a painter of fine art pastel portraits working in Cornwall. The paintings are done in the traditional way but I now mainly work from photographs. My passion is twofold, creating great likenesses of course, but I also enjoy exploring the character and personality of my subject. The result is a work of art that will be treasured and cherished for a very long time, it is a legacy. If you have a photograph that means a lot to you send it to me and I will create your work of art. The photograph can be colour or black and white, recently taken or one taken many years ago. The only thing that is important is that the facial details are there. The more facial details on the photograph the better the portrait will be. The photograph doesn't have to be formal I can even work from action shots if the face is clearly defined. Perhaps you are planning to take photographs in the near future, whether it's a wedding, or anniversary, first day at school or last day of work, if you can get a good photograph of the face or faces I will be able to create a portrait that will have pride of place in your home for many many years. I also do sketches in pastel pencil and also graphite which are very popular. For the pastel pencil sketches I prefer to use a dark sanguine colour which I find ideal for bringing out the character in the human face.