|
At the risk of reviving a topic that may already have been chewed to death, I wanted to point out that no one can maintain a natural-looking smile while sitting for hours at a time. My first attempt at an oil portrait depicted my teenage daughter, who posed for me while I painted, and her final expression was bland and uninspiring. Then I began working from my own photos in which I typically try for more spontaneous expressions. Particularly with children, that seems to involve a smile complete with teeth. That look works well with my specialty of "portraits in a natural setting." Personally I really enjoy portraits of children with infectious grins on their little faces, although that may not be to everyone's taste. However, I do think that if the masters had had Nikons we'd see a lot more teeth in their paintings.
|