Portrait is based on a conversation between the buyer and the artist that will ideally take place in person but can also happen over the phone, via Skype, or as an email exchange. The work on the portrait begins with the artist asking simple questions regarding musical experiences of the person to be portrayed. This dialogue becomes the basis for the short, mostly solo instrumental or vocal composition by the artist.

The Portrait is a physical and an imaginary representation of the discovered musical skills and fantasies. The resulting score is usually one to two pages long. The buyer owns the rights to play the composition and to have someone else perform the piece.

In addition to individual portraits, there have also beren group portraits, as in Songbook (ES13) composed for the staff of Esther Schipper, and ensemble compositions such as the Braun family portrait.