Award-winning portrait artist STEVEN MICKLE creates portraits that range in style from striking photo-realism to more painterly depictions. He works exclusively in pastel, enjoying this "purest means of applying pigment to a surface." In 1989, Mickle was a finalist for his portrait Louise (above) in the national portrait painting competition sponsored by The Artist's Magazine and judged by Everett Raymond Kinstler. Over the next 11 years, he achieved finalist designation in four out of seven of the competitions he entered. © All images copyright of the artist.