The Visual Turn: Painting portraits of other people can tell us truths about ourselves.

The article focuses on the author's journey into painting after a long career in writing, which began in 2023 at the age of 70. The author reflects on their early artistic talent and how writing became their primary creative outlet for 50 years, eventually leading to a sense of fatigue with the writing process. In search of a new creative impulse, the author turned to drawing and painting, finding joy in the immediacy and improvisational nature of visual art. They explore the differences and similarities between writing and painting, particularly in portraiture, which allows for a deeper connection with subjects and a sense of empathy that contrasts with the solitary nature of writing. The author concludes that painting has become a dominant form of expression, fostering a connection to both the past and the present. [Extracted from the article]