A reliable critic...

My husband, a physician, is a truth-teller.  When I show him a finished painting he tells it like it is.  I read that painters should do periodic self-portaits both as an exercise and as a painted record through the years.  It is a weird experience, painting something you think you know intimately.  I found I didn't know my features as well as I thought.  My mirror time is just enough to ensure that I don't frighten those I meet.  To devote many minutes to, say, one's left nostril is unsettling.  I showed the completed portrait to Truth-man.  He studied it a few moments and said "Who is this?"  Back to the easel!