When painting a portrait, I think it is imperative to produce the physical likeness and attributes of the subject but what is just as important is to capture the person's spirit, whether that person be an adult whose life story may be embedded in their facial feature or a very young child whose personality is less forthcoming  We often talk about the notion of 'the aura' in the artworld and I think this is particularly applicable to portraiture; as cheesy as it may sound, the eyes really do need to come alive, follow you around the room, tell a thousand stories. Portraiture should be charmingly haunting.