But a woman on West 44th Street, whose likeness was closely captured by Mr. Sheng, refused to pay because she said her nose had been drawn too flat and her lips too thick. But most artists have settled for happy middle ground by mixing reality with a sprinkle of fantasy. With wavy shoulder-length hair and a dashing face, Sunny Gondel, a limousine driver, fancied himself a Pakistani Kurt Russell and requested that Mr. Haruni omit the signs of aging on his face. At first, Mr. Haruni painted Mr. Gondel without the bags under his eyes and the heavy shadows that hollowed his cheeks. But as Mr. Gondel went on with his story of an unrequited love that has tormented him for the last 19 years and how it eventually drove him into a life of wild parties and fast women, Mr. Haruni subtly worked in a look of sadness in Mr. Gondel's eyes and dusted a light layer of shadows under his cheeks.
Light colors reflect a harsh, unflattering shadow onto the face.
2 Face the artist three quarters of the way. But there are exceptions. 3 Slanted, late afternoon sun and street lights cast the most flattering shadows on the face. If you want to look better than you do, tell the artist straight out and work out a middle ground. 7 Expect a session to last between 30 and 45 minutes.