How to infuse portraits with living energy:
Katrina first thinks about her impression of the person to be painted. She shares these explanations: “I notice the continence. . . what is the mood? I look deeply and decipher exactly what the subject is feeling by observing the features and attitude of the head and body. Once that is determined, I gaze into the eyes and try to intuit what the subject may be thinking, and feeling at that moment in time. I notice the relaxed or stressed facial attitudes associated with their emotion, especially including the eyes, brow, forehead, and mouth. All this will help me determine the mood and feeling that I will want to portray in the painting. “As I draw out the face I am constantly aware of these perceptions in the facial features. When I paint the eyes, it is very important to feel nothing else but what the subject is communicating through them. I don’t just draw the eyes, but communicate the emotion; I put myself there and "feel" them looking out of their eyes. The goal is to capture that subtlety and to paint it into the picture. It has very much to do with the eyes.”
Finally, she ends by saying “When the painting is done, I take time to meditate on it; concentrating on the eyes while seeing the whole at the same time (using my peripheral vision) and infuse it with presence and transcendence. I see it as so, place my magic on it, and anoint it. I charge it with life!”