No, and after seeing my friend’s artwork I question whether it’s necessary at all. You can find her art at Anne Via Designs on Facebook. Her most recent are famous people, but scroll through her photos and you’ll see lifelike, or maybe I should say photo like paintings of children, flowers, water, animals. She’s incredible if you like realistic art. She usually works off of several photos, not just one.
I think at least some artists use the female model gig for less than honarable reasons.
However, I do think knowing the people in a portrait, and having seen them in action can make a big difference in the art, but often that is shown in a more abstract way. Just my opinion.
I once made my sister sit still so I could draw her face. She was about 5 or 6 years old, and I was 8 maybe? I’d have to find the piece of work and check if I put the year on it. I know I was 9 or younger, because we lived in NY at the time. She didn’t want to sit as long as I wanted her to. I kept telling her to sit still. Lol. I’m pretty sure I did it with crayon. I know I had it in a portfolio two moves ago, I assume I still have it in a box.