Realistic WIP.. Help?

[Lokianna]

I'm trying to draw a gift for a friend of Kevin from U-KISS, but I'm kinda stuck. I was wondering, what tips does anyone have for shading skin? Maybe what pencils I should try and what other tools I could use?
My current:
This was a grid drawing, but it's still kinda off..

Reference photo:

[Lokianna]

<3

[The Kikimora]

I used to do a lot of portraits and I think you have done very well so far. One thing I have told others is don't be afraid to darken shadows. If you have a drawing pencil set you may notice they are labelled with certain letters and numbers, I haven't memorized those but basically find a pencil that is very soft to get the darkest areas done and the thin hard graphite filled pencils to do the lighter shading. Definitely go slow with darkening a portrait because if you go too dark too fast you can make it look ridiculous.Good luck!

[Nivans]

Dont be afraid of values!
Pencil in the most darkest areas, (the shadows at the top of his hair, the shadows underneath his teeth ect ect, dont be afraid to draw it in REAL dark because thats the sharpest of the shadows in sucha brightly lit photo. Proportions look good, so dont be afraid to add the light shadows under his eyes (be careful or he will look like he has baggy eyes) and around his nose!

Keep it up! Looking great! *thumbs up*

[Lokianna]

The Kikimora

Nivans

Thank you both! I will definitely play around with my pencils on a separate sheet of paper to test what works, and then I will slowly work on darkening. :3

[Yamiko]

You got the details of the eyes down, but I have some things to suggest.

Take your reference, turn it black and white, then blur it to simplify values.
However, my suggestion to you is to simplify the values and up the contrast. Sometimes color can get in the way when you're trying to turn something from color to black and white.It helps to remove color from an image then blur it to see the gradation from lightest to darkest.

Group your darkest darks and lightest lights.
See if you can replicate a rectangle similar to the value gradation with pencil. (B grade leads are the softest and are wonderful for making the darkest darks whereas H grade leads are better for lighter areas of value.) But you really can use any lead type as long as you're careful with the pressure you use to push down on the pencil. Once you're done getting the hang of that, see if you can group and simplify the shadows like you're cell-shading.

Texture and highlights usually go last, especially when it comes to hair. (At least from my experience.)
I notice you're placing to many strands on the hair. Hair strand texture usually comes last. (And I guess highlights too if you're using an eraser putty.

Pay careful attention to the overall structure of the face.
I notice he has puffy looking eyes. Err...a bit of shadow under his eyes. (I think there's a korean makeup trend for that dunno what it's called again.)

I think you could add the smile lines by his cheeks, darken the corners of his lips, shade the lips a bit to emphasize the highlight of the bottom lip, and darken that little area under his chin and just above the collar of his shirt.

[Lokianna]

Yamiko

You got the details of the eyes down, but I have some things to suggest.

Take your reference, turn it black and white, then blur it to simplify values.
However, my suggestion to you is to simplify the values and up the contrast. Sometimes color can get in the way when you're trying to turn something from color to black and white.It helps to remove color from an image then blur it to see the gradation from lightest to darkest.

Group your darkest darks and lightest lights.
See if you can replicate a rectangle similar to the value gradation with pencil. (B grade leads are the softest and are wonderful for making the darkest darks whereas H grade leads are better for lighter areas of value.) But you really can use any lead type as long as you're careful with the pressure you use to push down on the pencil. Once you're done getting the hang of that, see if you can group and simplify the shadows like you're cell-shading.

Texture and highlights usually go last, especially when it comes to hair. (At least from my experience.)
I notice you're placing to many strands on the hair. Hair strand texture usually comes last. (And I guess highlights too if you're using an eraser putty.

Pay careful attention to the overall structure of the face.
I notice he has puffy looking eyes. Err...a bit of shadow under his eyes. (I think there's a korean makeup trend for that dunno what it's called again.)

I think you could add the smile lines by his cheeks, darken the corners of his lips, shade the lips a bit to emphasize the highlight of the bottom lip, and darken that little area under his chin and just above the collar of his shirt.

Wow!
Thank you very much for this, it's honestly really helpful~ I never would've thought to blur the ref, I only had the b&w version. I'll definitely be using similar tactics whenever I do more portrait drawings. Again, thank you very much. :3 Sorry, I'm horrible with words. ^^;