Ooops...sorry about the gender mix-up...I went back and fixed that in my original post.
To avoid repeating myself here, some of my favorite "beginner" suggestions are in the following threads:
About copying the old masters:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=261
William Whitaker Links:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=283
Painting from photos:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=237
Learn fast by tracing:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...hlight=Tracing
I urge you to sit down and read through the material on this forum...for starters you can really learn a lot here.
I would also hope that you can find a qualified painting teacher somewhere near you. Good instruction is money well spent.
Hybrid Mode
