• if, after the sketch, the palette and colors or the drawing overall doesn't look good, then redo it from the beginning and try again by either changing the palette or scrapping the shading; it's not gonna look any better after that and trying to insist is not only a mistake but a waste of time and energy
  • also, if the colors don't look right try making the painting black and white the same way you'd flip the canvas to check for imperfections
    • look for contrasts between the tones and tweak whatever necessary; for better enhancement, you can also do it while zoomed out so, if you can make out the drawing from afar, it's all good
• blues or purples for shades, the prominent color for lightening
  • never shade with a black #000 seriously; your style just doesn't go with it, don't do it
• adding reds, grays and purples or even greens to make the skin look more organic
• remember that the drawing needs to look like a whole; when shading, don't focus on the place you're shading but how it'll look in the big picture—it's efficiency raw and saves lots of energy
  • 33.33% and lower zoom is perfect for this reason
• layers upon layers upon layers of shading and colors, especially on the skin
  • but god don't forget to make the face and body even, or they'll look two different tones
    • also, the darkest shade (the gray almost black or otherwise) needs to be seen in the skin, very vaguely like a comic book shading; that's necessary so the colors won't look too faded and weak
• messy shading works great with realism and horror
• 1-3 layer merge paint method, any more than that will be too disorganized

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• if you're stuck in an artblock, open a new file and do a black&white portrait. remember how you're supposed to paint. how good it feels to draw with nearly no references. it's not much, but it's something.
• when drawing faces, consider paint the nostrils and irises black
  • also, try making some parts of the lines thicker than others to give a sense of depth (especially in the corners of the eyes and mouth)