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One of the very first commissioned portraits I ever did was of an old man, quite good-looking but with a very large nose. I assumed that showing the nose as big as that would embarrass him, so I painted it smaller. As the client took a look, he told me that the painting was progressing well, but he complained that really his nose wasn't as small as I had painted it...
This taught me that it is the special personal traits that make our character and our particular looks. Of cause I want my portrait to show the client at his best, but I do not deliberately lie. If the client starts looking drowsy during a live sitting I suggest we continue another day. But I do not paint him with different features than I actually see.
We have a TV celebrity in my country that has an extremely assymetrical face. Every time I see him it fascinates me. I think his face is quite extraordinary. I do not suppose ordinary people notice, but being a portrait painter you just cannot help seeing it. If someone were to paint him reducing this assymery, the painting would loose the best of his fascinating looks!
In my experience, men are easier to paint because their whole identity does not depend on them being handsome; they generally will accept their looks as they are. Women are more complicated since we often believe that our value as humans depend on looking good...
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