Students and aficionados of art will both treasure this collection of vivacious portrait sketches from veteran artist Min Gao. Spanning a history of 15 years, the portraits are classic in technique and vibrant in character. Gao’s subjects are an eclectic cast, ranging from youthful girls in bonnets to elderly couples decked in fedoras. With flying short sweeps of a simple charcoal stick, Gao captures his subjects’ looks and expressions down to every wry crinkle and dimpled smile...in 10 minutes or less. With a gift for illuminating his subjects’ personalities on their faces, Gao’s simple yet insightful portraits provide workable templates for student artists all around.