For what it's worth, this is my first bust. I spent about 50 hours on it from start to finish and I'm really proud of the result. Most importantly, I learned a lot about shapes, shadows, highlights, etc. There is no where to hide when painting something this size (as opposed to 28 mm miniature), so that really forced me to study and learn.
I am open to any critique and commentary you may have as I'm in this to learn and excel. Thanks for taking the time to view the photos and read this far down the page. ;)