Yeah, i watched that last night actually. I've been reseraching other patch modeling tutorials over the past few days that go more into defining the shape a bit more, then adding the curves defining all the facial patches, more like irontick's example. With the NURBS Radial method, it seems like it would be quicker to just create a half sphere, rotate it so the poles are along the z-axis, then translate the pull the CVs in to form the mouth.

I guess my perception of patch modeling is that it you're defining the patches for more realistic muscle movement as well as getting a head start on the specific shape of the head, rather than just building a very basic shape and sculpting.