Hey I'm doing Fine Art and I like painting portraits but my tutor says i need "deep philosophical meaning" behind what I'm doing because I'm going to have to write an essay about it. so far I know im painting portraits about A4 size on canvas, head shots, natural expressions with white backgrounds a bit lyk passport/ID photos. I wanted to leave the background white so that theres no distraction for the viewer and so that there is no narative about who the person is etc. purely the facial expression and quirks etc. we all have 2 eyes a nose etc etc but we all look so different. I like artists like Gerhard Richter, Yves Klein, Ron mueck etc. Any ideas?

Is there something special about who you're drawing? Is it a live model, or yourself, or historical figures? Philosophical meaning is in the eye of the beholder, after all. This will have to mean something to you. Also, have you considered using a single flat color to help set a mood? Red for a feeling of aggression, and so on.