I just love this stage of a portrait. It is as though we have just been introduced to this person and we are eager to get to know her. I hope I sufficiently express how important a good pose, a good composition is. When the viewers see the painting for the first time, you want them to feel this eagerness to get to know her. People should be drawn to her, not to a painting of a sweet girl, they should want to know THIS girl. That all happens in the composition. If you get good light, that, too, will draw the viewers in. Happy painting.