Hello and welcome. Glad you decided to jump into the pool and congrats on your first showing.
I'd say for your first smudge you've got a lot to be proud of -- you definitely did
a WHOLE LOT better on your first one than I did.

This is not an easy technique regardless of which program one uses.
Is your method based on a specific tutorial (or two)?
A suggestion for next time would be to consider eliminating the background, in this case, the curtains. Although they are good candidates for smudging, in this case to me they are a little distracting. Perhaps boost the saturation of non-skin colors and add a little digital texture to add to the
painterly look. Here's a quick hack to give you something to chew on.
May you find many, many hours of enjoyment as you continue to grow.
