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Dear Julie:
A few things I do that help with a drawing by trying to find different ways of seeing the subject:
Make a black and white copy of the face from the reference photo. This way you can better understand the value relationships. In your drawing of the head, I noticed you're giving equal tone to the core shadow and the shadow under her lighted cheek. This is not the case. Getting rid of the color will help you better read those kinds of tonal relationships.
Hang a mirror behind you and constantly check your work in the mirror while you are working. A reverse image has this way of making drawing mistakes more noticable.
Turn your photo upside down and work from it that way. It tricks your brain and you'll see relationships better. Looking at an oil portrait upside down helps you better see the local flesh color and the form of the head as well. If the overall flesh tone is too pale, you'll see it upside down.
Take a digital photo of your drawing and bring it up on the computer. It's also a way of seeing things differently.
Projecting the image to trace on your ground is okay as long as it doesn't become a crutch. As Steven suggests, use it to indicate where everything should go but keep in mind the drawing process continues until the very end.
My final piece of advice is not to get discouraged with drawing, painting, or the Forum -- only clients who don't pay you on time. I consider painting at a high level to be as difficult as playing a musical instrument well or writing a good book. It requires maybe 10% talent and 90% percent hard work, years of hard work -- a lifetime of hard work. But if you love doing it, then it's not really work. You know you love it when five hours go by and you hardly notice the passage of time. (I'm really full of it tonight.)
By the way, the first sketch you made was quite nice. It looks like you have a good plan for the overall light and dark pattern of the painting.
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