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Don't be frustrated by different advice from different people -- that just means we all see through our own eyes and from our own experience. Far more important that you paint what you see than what I say. I might have entirely different comments if I were able to actually see the portrait subject in the particular lighting situation. Also, by the time a piece is photographed and digitized, adjusted and re-sized and e-mailed and all the rest, it's often a very tricky proposition to critique it. That's why I try to couch my observations in terms that encourage analysis rather than require adherence to must-do "rules".
I was in a studio for a while in which instruction was offered by two veteran teachers, both brilliantly competent realistic representational artists, who alternated giving critiques of student work. One day I might be told that shadow shapes were too warm, so I'd spend a couple of hours on that, and then two days later, the other instructor would feign hypothermia as he complained of the "WAY too cold" shadows. It was through that process that I learned to regard critiques as information for me to process rather than mandatory change-orders.
Best wishes,
Steven
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