What is the secret to a great portrait like the Mona Lisa?

No Teeth! by Miriam Schulman, @schulmanArt

 

Smiles are a beautiful thing, and everyone looks better when wearing a smile-- but a genuine subtle smile, like the Mona Lisa, makes for the most beautiful expression for a portrait painting. Whenever I take photos of my kids, and also my portrait clients, I always advise them to give me a "Mona Lisa smile."


In this wonderful video, one female art portrait morphs into the next. You will notice that in all of them the women wear either a faint closed mouth smile or an slight smirk with slightly parted lips. There are no big toothy smiles in any of these portraits.

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