Different Strokes

Three emerging portraitists transform snapshots of senior editor JULIE SURATT's twin boys into pieces of art worthy of framing.

JESSICA GATH

Cambridge artist Gath, who has an M.F.A. from MassArt, works for something more than a two-dimensional likeness; she strives to recreate her subjects' presence. "Until that moment comes," she says, "no painting is done." When handing over a finished work (usually painted from a photo), she always includes a handwritten note detailing her process.

Oil, $1,500–$2,600 per portrait.

ELYSE HRADECKY

A Rhode Island School of Design alum, Hradecky prefers her subjects relaxed
and natural—no fake smiles needed. If working from a photograph, she asks for multiple images and emphasizes that location is not important; she rarely includes backgrounds in her work (welcome news to parents sick of overstaged Walmart-esque sets).

Graphite and watercolor, $450 for a 22-by-30-inch portrait.

MELODY PHANEUF

Although Boston-based Phaneuf prefers to meet with her subjects in person, she's also able to work from a photograph—but the more photos she gets, the better. "There's a certain posture and temperament that can be discerned from a dozen photos," says Phaneuf, who went to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. "A person's body language, sequence of motion, and gaze are revealing."