Laura Ravasi; the finished piece.
 

Here it is;

Judson,

All things considered, this is a pretty ambitious composition. I know it may not seem that way but there is an awful lot that you have asked of yourself. Competing elements of shape, color and negative space.

There is a tendency, I still have to fight this, to compose an all inclusive fully descriptive scene. But if you'll notice, when the really good artist gather together to study their portrait work, all they do is study the head. Portrait painting is about the head first, second and third.

My suggestion would be to create some really good reference photo of just a head and shoulder pose (refer to the photo advice section) or if you're up to it, have a friend pose for you, or both. Then work on nailing down the drawing, the form with light and shadow, and the skin tones. And keep the work close to life size, it will make your efforts so much easier.

I look forward to seeing your next effort.

This is exactly what I'm talking about: Chris Sapers recent portrait

Can you post the reference photos you used? There seem to be some drawing and modeling problems but I don't think anyone can give you an accurate critique without knowing what you were working from.

Judson,

Two areas of concern for me would be: 1) edges: everything seems to be very "hard" and distinctive, for example the back edge of the couch, since it set back away from the subject should be softened. Also I would soften the edge of her hair where it interacts with the background. 2) Lack of highlights: The overall feel is that the value range is from medium to dark, taking another look at your photo reference should reveal those areas that should be lightened.

Look forward to seeing this progress.