Suitablility to the subject.
Because I am not in the ranks of official portraitdom, I am still perhaps too tied into the quality of the picture. When the model is not investing in the outcome there is a lot more freedom. I think I have learned, as Karin is pointing out, the value and intent of that glint.
There are times when my model simply does not have one. I used to love flicking it in at the last of the picture to sort of wake up the model I had been working on for the past few hours. Now it is not a rule. I find myself considering how alert a subject may actually be.
Mona is dreamy. Looking out in anticipation was a bit of contradiction to the whole mood of the piece. Alert is an option. The value of this thread is to point out the variables in the intention of portrayal of the subject. I have many friends who ask me the "right" thing to do in a painting... Tips and information are all good, but I appreciate more this sort of thing, as an input as to how to make decisions, not which decision is the correct one.
Jim's young gentleman and his introverted expression would have looked angry with that much intensity and alerness too.
A good choice for a specific intention. Thanks for making me think.
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