More Faces and Lessons

I'm participating in Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday class, creating a journal with a daily lesson learned. I'm also using the journal as a way to practice drawing and painting faces.  My lesson for Sept. 5 was "Follow your muse, even if she doesn't follow your original plan." The lesson came about as I was creating this face.  I actually started with the following Richard Avedon photograph of Audrey Hepburn as my reference:

I started by drawing the constrained face in a circle, and she immediately made me think of images I have seen of women wearing head scarves. So, I went with that. And I really like what I created, which led me to my lesson!
I have on other lesson to share, which I'm posting even though I don't like the face much because I like they story that goes with it.

I painted this face back on September 2, and I can already see how much better my faces have become since then! Anyway, the lesson is "Don't judge too fast . . . people (and dogs) are not always the way the first appear." I learned the lesson while volunteering at the Humane Society.  Clara and I walked one of the new dogs, and he seemed perfectly nice, but nothing special. But when we took him into the play yard, he blossomed.  He loved to play fetch and run about. Then we tested him to see if he knew any commands.  When we said, "sit," he dropped, rolled over, and waited in down position! He did this over and over again! He had clearly been taught this trick, and it totally melted our hearts. Thus, my lesson for the day.
Have you learned anything new lately? Do either of these lessons resonate with you?