The head and figure in general seem rather flat. You might want to check out this link to an explanation I gave in another thread about achieving form and roundness in a head through control of values:
http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...&threadid=1863
Can you post your reference photo for the figure?
I agree that your background is too distracting. There are several things that attract attention to any area of a painting. High contrast, saturated colors and sharp edges are the first three that come to mind.
All of them are in the background in this image and none of them are in the figure. That's why the background is too "busy", as you put it.
Otherwise, it's a sweet image with a cute little pouty expression on the girl!
Hybrid Mode
