Because my work is large, I often draw on a ladder.

After making only a few marks, and very often just one mark, I step down the ladder and walk directly backwards several paces to the opposite end of the room. There I turn and look in a mirror that has been positioned to reflect the drawing. In the mirror, the drawing appears small, and allows me to see how the mark I just made affects the whole piece. Then I go back up.

Back and forth, up and down, hour after hour, I embrace the rhythm, movement and physicality of working big.

I concentrate on only one portrait at a time, which usually requires two to four months to complete.

This portrait of Manop Sujaritpirij is 90 inches high. Manop, who is from Thailand, is wearing traditional farmer's pants and his cherished necklace of shells, charms and amulets from Thailand and Tibet.

All images © Mary Borgman, 2009