Oswaldo Elias was born in Peru and studied at the esteemed Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Lima. He is the son of a well-known portrait artist and he has continued with the family tradition and specialized in portraits as his father and grandfather had done before him. Their philosophy behind their portraits is that they paint the soul and not the body of their clients. In that respect, it is imperative to observe the eyes of the figure in order to find the real person behind them.