I have often voiced my admiration for people who are so easily able to capture a likeness in a portrait.....I can't and this looks nothing like the photograph but i felt it was a bold effort at a subject i am pretty hopeless at. Any advice welcome.
Overall, you have the proportions correct (I don't have your pic but for a human). But it seems flat. two things - you have very little value contrast in this particular portrait and there isn't much tonal temperature change in the skin... maybe take your photo and look at it in black and white - should be easy with our digital technology. Flatting the values can work - look at Manet's Olympia, so there is NOT any 1 right answer. I have trouble with balancing subtle warms/cools but if you look at an old master like john singer sargent this is what he does. IF your goal is photo realism, then many of those masters use a projector to project onto the canvas then color and value match. Its tedious and I can't do that, but that's a valid technique.
I'm working thru a book: The Oil Painting Course You've Always Wanted - by Staiger. I consider myself "intermediate" level, but it's helped me refresh what I knew about color - mixing/theory. Final chapter in that is portraits. Not overwhelming, worth the money IMO and good to establish grounding in fundamentals.
Thankyou Rebecca for your insight, some useful advice. I will try another portrait soon....maybe a family member so the facial characteristics are more familiar
The girl in this photo was heavily made up explaining the lack of tonal change
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I think this is bold and makes a strong statement. I seriously doubt there is anything "easy" about portraits. People who study, practice, and paint a lot get better - that ain't easy! If there is a particular portrait style you want to master, my advice is to find a book(s), video(s), or (better) classes with someone teaching that. Get with people doing that style - in person or online - and really pursue it.