Basic Essence Portraits - Art for the 21st Century

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."  ~Aristotle

Every Essence Portrait by Judy Rey Wasserman begins with a basic portrait in black and white, and sometimes shades of gray.

While these somewhat resemble the basic photo-manipulations of Andy Warhol's silkscreens, the Essence Portraits are not photo-manipulations; each created by the artist's hand using strokes that are with brushes and pens using acrylics and art inks on paper or board. The strokes used are always symbols, and so far, all of the symbols used are the original letters from specially selected Bible texts that seem to pertain to each person depicted.

All of the basic Essence Portraits below are by Judy Rey Wasserman. Their titles refer to the text(s) used for the symbols that make up all of the strokes of the portrait.

Psalm 19
(Andy Warhol)

Psalm 122
(Rembrandt van Rijn)

Psalm 113
(Vincent van Gogh)

Genesis 1
Albert Einstein

Psalm 13
Benjamin Franklin

Psalm 133
(Oprah Winfrey)

Psalm 98
(Madonna)

Exodus 20:
10 Commandments
(Abe Lincoln)

Exodus 20:
10 Commandments
(Grover Cleveland)

Exodus 20:
10 Commandments
(Andrew Jackson)

Exodus 20:
10 Commandments
(George Washington)

Exodus 20:
10 Commandments
(Barack Obama)

Song of Songs
(Ashton Kutcher)

Song of Songs
(Demi Moore Kutcher)

Psalm 18
(Jon Bon Jovi)