It's Not A Face

I brought my failed attempts at painting faces 
to the GJWP meeting this week
hoping for some advice. 
It worked! 
Paula V. looked at me and said,
"Stop thinking of it as a face.
Paint it like any object"!   
Hello!?

Thank you Paula! 

This time, I approached it the same way I do all my subjects.

I did my map, 
blocked every thing in shadow in with dark shapes.

From there, I added the lights, 
adjusted a few things, and stopped. 

My figurative work is less about portraying a likeness, 
than it is about describing a moment in time.
So I want to get really good at 
 simply suggesting facial features accurately.
This will take LOTS of practice!
Any one want to come over and model?