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As Daniel Greene (and others) say, a painting succeeds or not based on the decisions made in the first five minutes. Here's what I'd suggest for your next painting:
Work only from life. It will only cause you more difficulty if you try to incorporate information from a photo along with what you see with the model in front of you. This is especially the case when you're trying to use a photograph that has the lights blasted out as in the photo you used with this painting.
Set up a very simple pose, as Linda suggested. Have the model sit up straight and face you directly, no tilt of the head, no hand, and don't sit him or her too close to the light. You want a softer range of contrast that will be easier to capture in paint. Set things up so that the face is two thirds in light, one third in shadow.
Mark the corners of her chair on the floor with tape and mark the corners of the easel on the floor with tape, so you can go back to those exact positions the next day.
If the light is changing too much from day to day, work with artificial light. The Gage Academy here in Seattle teaches all its highly respected and rigorous academic classes with artificial light on the models and on the canvas, to avoid exactly the problem you describe. Don't limit yourself to artificial light long term, though. Natural light is best. While you're learning, though, eliminate as many variables as you can.
Try this a few times with a few different models and you'll be amazed at what you can do!
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