Cool! You must have to imagine what it's like to paint the closed shape :D I like the blurry effect. Maybe if you could "sharpen" just a little bit more on features like eyes to make it pop? Now the lips looks the most prominent.

I like the textures in colleration with the expression of the subject. This one can use more color temperature variations. If this light source is very warm and illuminates the whole scene with warmth then you can add cooler transitional halftone and keep both your light and shadow warm. Also I think the light part within the shadow half of the picture needs to be darken and cooler to push back a little bit. It's so exciting to see fellow traditional painters. Sorry for commenting so much. haha.

Hi @colormeant , What a beautiful painting! My opinion: The mouth is what jumps out at me first. Because of the red colour, and also because it's quite an graphic shape (with some harder edges) in the painting. Was it your intention to make the mouth the main focus of the picture? If not, I feel that perhaps some more hard edges in the areas you want the viewers' focus to go first, could improve the picture a bit . Also, I think that some more hard edges would give the face a bit more structure. Furthermore I think that the use of some more cool colours could make the painting pop a bit more. And last but not least, I think that the shape of ear on the light side could be a bit more defined. Quite an intriguing painting, I like it!! .Leon