Jumping right in...
 

I figured the best way to start here was to jump right in and pray everyone is nice! I am sure you are!

I see the moderator is Chris Saper, whom I must shameless plug as having my favorite reference book out in the market.

My work varies so I wasn't sure which to post so I thought I would use two ends of my spectrum. I work in soft pastel from photos or live sittings. With children I find photographing them and having them sit with a video in my studio at the end has worked very well. This first one is quite formal.

http://homepage.mac.com/macbeth7/.Pi...tain%20web.jpg

This would be a sample of my more "casual" work.

http://forum.portraitartist.com/imag...mages/erin.jpg

I hope this doesn't come out too large, I tried to grab the thumbnail.

Just caught a broken link at my site, that I need to go fix. Thank you all for your input!

Darling girls
 

What darling girls. I especially like the color in the water one. Watch your skin tone transitions. Make sure nothing pops out, like a too-sharp highlight. When working with children, I usually have a large blowup of a photo next to them in the same pose. I refer to the photo as the good kid and the model as the bad kid, giggles all around. The child can move a lot but you can grab the color and draw the form from the photo. Check out the posting I sent to Geri Comicz at http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...0&pagenumber=4 for some tips on getting more accurate values and color. I am a professional artist with a site on portraitartist.com.

Thanks for your input Sharon. I must explain the reason for the "sharp" highlights on the girl in the ocean, is the water on her skin, which does shine - I should have posted a close up. I'll check out your post. :)

Highlights
 

Elizabeth, I should have been clearer. I realized that those were water highlights. Actually I was more bothered by the crease or shadow by her eye on her cheek. It is too harsh. You can edit it out or soften it.