Daniel Dean Studios, Cincinnati

Portrait painting used to require a subject to sit for hours on end, forcing them to first take tedious lessons on not moving from willing ventriloquist dummies. Thankfully, modern technology allows Daniel Dean to take a more practical approach. When a client commissions a portrait, Mr. Dean first snaps hundreds of images of them during a photo shoot, focusing on capturing natural expressions that show their personality. As clients return to their daily lives, he refers to the images to produce works of art. The result is a life-like, yet uniquely stylized, oil painting.

Every stroke of Mr. Dean’s brush is guided by his extensive art background. The artist trained as an oil painter, and earned an undergraduate degree at Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree at the University of Cincinnati. When not painting, he shares his expertise as an adjunct professor at UC and the University of Dayton, and trains younger students during classes held at his studio.