Lasgush Poradeci 2016

Gazmend Freitag made this portrait of Lasgush Poradeci in 2016, using pencil on paper. I can imagine Gazmend standing there, lightly hatching the paper to slowly build up tone. It is a simple yet effective technique that renders the image with remarkable likeness. He must have been looking intently at Poradeci’s face, trying to capture the likeness. The face is everything, right? You can see the care he took around the eyes, giving them that little twinkle. It is not photorealism, but it is an incredible expression. The soft modelling of the face pulls you in, and you can feel the character and age. It is like a conversation between artists, across time and space. We all learn from each other, riffing off ideas. And that's the beauty of art - it's an ongoing dialogue, an exchange of ideas that inspires creativity.