I'm not putting this in "Critques" because it isn't even my work. I just came upon it, and thought it so gorgeous I wanted you all to see it. It won 2nd place (I think it's better than their first place choice!) in last year's Artist's Magazine competition. The link is:
http://www.artistsmagazine.com/2001_portrait.html
It's by James Hugh McCauley. What a wonderful and delicate water-color. I suppose it could be argued whether it is in fact a "portrait" or a "figure study", but it's undeniably beautiful.