Portraits of strangers -

Creating a personal opinion of strangers by drawing their portraits by sight only - does this create a person anew?  When we see, or first meet someone, we form an opinion of their person that we do not have any validation for.  Does this person exist that we presume that we meet?  Or are they created upon thought somewhere in this world?  

Can we question if portraits are as much a creation of character, as they are a creation of the 'deceived' space upon the paper...?