Teeth Showing

[Rochelle Brown]

I've done a couple of portraits with teeth showing and it's hard to get rid of the "horses mouth" or "buck teeth" look. There has to be the right amount of space between the teeth and lower lip, and the teeth have to have the right shapes, sizes, and have good shading. Does anyone charge extra for teeth?

[Michele Rushworth]

Several of my portraits lately have included toothy smiles (some at the parents' request, some were posthumous portraits from existing photos, etc). I didn't charge extra.

For me the key is not to make the teeth too bright. I found the best "color" for teeth is varying mixtures of burnt umber and white. That way they're not too yellow and not to grey.

The drawing of the teeth has to be perfect (each tooth exactly the right size and shape, etc) or it won't look right. It's as time consuming as doing the eyes, if not more!

Of course, many people feel that a portrait should show a more subtle, timeless expression than what you get from a toothy grin. I guess that's up to each artist and client to decide.

[Karin Wells]

Charge extra for teeth? Hmmmmm... now THAT is a really good idea! Thanks Rochelle. Sometimes people balk when I say that I will not paint anyone with their teeth showing.

Maybe the best way to put a quick end to these discussions is to tell them that I will indeed paint an open mouth for $500 extra, plus an additional $250 for each tooth.

This will help me pay MY dental bills and make both me and my dentist very happy.

[Chris Saper]

Hi Rochelle,

I usually avoid teeth if at all possible. Here is my advice about painting them:

-Do not individualize each tooth. Paint the teeth as connected forms, on a series of planes that lie on an arc.

-It's mainly important to get the value right. Teeth are usually darker than one might think.

-Be true to the expression. Once a person is smiling enough to show teeth, their eyes begin to close. Resist the pull to paint wide-open eyes with a toothy smile

-Mimimize the value of the shadow you will see in the nasal labial fold (the crease running from the corner of the mouth to the outside of the nostril's wing) as your photo will show it darker than it would be if you were observing the subject from life.

I also agree that big smiles tend to look more frozen, and that gentle pleasant expressions are more timeless.

Chris

[Mike McCarty]

I've always admired the way Shelley Stansfield was able to paint the teeth in this series of portraits: http://www.portraitartist.com/stansfield/devon2.htm, not really individualizing each tooth but treating them as a single mass. Easier said than done.

[Jim Riley]

I agree with Michele's comments and would add that as difficult as they are it is neccessary to learn how to paint them. You will have occasions when it you must include the teeth but otherwise I find the big grin with teeth an indication that the subject has responded to something of the moment or to the presense of a camera and is thereby less revealing of long term personality and character.

I would avoid charging extra for teeth or any other parts of the face and head. Would you charge less for one ear showing and long hair versus short, etc? I don't think you want to get into piecemeal assembly discussions with clients.

Attached is a detail of a posthumous portrait with the biggest full mouth/teeth challenge I ever had to face. Actually, I dread more so the kind that I will soon face when I paint an older gentleman with crooked and discolored teeth showing through a half smile.

[Karin Wells]

Jim, I only suggested charging for teeth as a way of discouraging those who won't take "NO, I don't paint teeth" for an answer. I've found that folks are apt to back off if you threaten their wallet.

The thought of painting a gleaming set of choppers like the ones you did Jim, would surely lead me to a complete and total nervous breakdown.

I confess, I couldn't possibly produce as good a portrait as you did in your example. Congratulations on doing the impossible!

By the way, I remember seeing in the Peabody Museum in Salem, MA a framed artist's list of prices circa 1700's. It really was a standard practice for an artist to charge by the hand, ear, etc. This is why so many early portraits of men had one hand hidden inside their shirt...they were too poor/cheap to pay for painting two hands. (Note that there weren't many toothy grins in those days either). Next time I'm in the neighborhood, I'll get a copy of this list and post it.

[Rochelle Brown]

I think charging for teeth might be the answer for me as well Karin. Since I'm the type to labor over minute details and paint in layers, An opened mouth with a set of teeth means a whole chunk of concentration and effort.

Rembrandt did such a beautiful job painting pearls, maybe I could strive for the Rembrandt, pearly white look and offer this feature to my clients. I don't know what they would think of something like that but it would make the painting of teeth less of a burden and possibly more fun.

[Tom Edgerton]

Usually when an artist tells me they won't do teeth, it's because they haven't done it much and are afraid to. There is no tenet for "appropriateness" of teeth in a portrait. If it's central to the subject's character, just do it. Everything comes with practice.

I try to obtain a relaxed, "in-between" expression, however, with some subtlety, as it wears better over time. The 500-watt, public relations grin is better suited to photographic portraits and short-term viewing.

One method I use for teeth and for the whites of eyes is to paint them the same value as the surrounding skin tone first, and adjust slightly as needed. This keeps me from painting them too light and brilliant. (Most of the time with eyes, I paint the whites at the same time as the surrounding skin, with the same skin color value, and then gray them only slightly to correct color.

For teeth, I draw them very individually and carefully first--teeth are never perfect and are as individual as fingerprints--and then blur the divisions between them slightly, especially between the front two, to avoid the impression of a row of perfect little tombstones or "chicklets."

[Tammy Nielsen]

Hi Tom,

I like to do teeth the way you do. If you get the shadows around the teeth right, then smudge the middle of the teeth they look right. I attached an example.