To help a portrait look like a specific person (or yourself) rather than vaguely resembling a person, look for that feature about your face that separates you from say a sister or a mother. I look similar to other family members, but with me it's that my eyes tilt slightly upward, also I have a small scar in the left corner of my mouth. With each person it might be a different thing.
Sometimes I cover parts of the picture, until I find that one thing that the particular person would not be themselves without, such as deep smile lines in the cheeks. That's the part I focus on. I find it helps greatly to use a grid to transfer the drawing to the canvas. I print out photos that are as close to the size I will render as I possible, or at least a face that is about six inches (15cm) tall. Otherwise I can't make out the features.
Tip from: Tina Jones
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