Art...sort of

[MishkaL1138]

I think you should also learn how to do vectorial inking, Mariana. It's easy to do and InkScape makes it all the easier. Once there, you can color and shade quite easily. See example, it's kind of half-assed but it's what I could do best:

Inking andshading with vectors is quite easy and fast. You can control the type of stroke you want, and shape the shades as you'd like.

@Dannae: I never said I wanted black with H, silly ;P I just said that 2B aren't the Holy Grail of shading, useful for everything. But yes, you can only get true black with soft pencils.

[Volki]

...I thought Mariana was going for a more realistic look. That doesn't even look like 3D form, Mishka, no offense.

[LigH]

It is called "Cel shading", trying to imitate a comic look on real 3D models, by reducing the shading levels with discrete thresholds.

Thanks, Volki

[Volki]

*Cel shading.

Mariana is obviously not trying to achieve that style.

[MishkaL1138]

You never know what she might be interested in. Here's a better example of shading (this time not made by me):

WARNING: BIG IMAGE

Notice how it uses gradients as well as plain shading.

Also, cel shading is awesome.

[Bonifarzia]

I suck at shadery

No, you don't. Actually, this scribble looks pretty good. The proportions and shading of the face seem much better than in any of your drawings i have seen. Did you scan this one? It is a bit blurred. Also, since you mentioned you have a scanner, maybe you want to experiment with digital shading and colorization (also: Deforming and retouching can be helpful). Another good point is that you can experiment and undo things at will.
EDIT: You remember Cherppow, who used to be an art dev for planeshift?
A few years ago he put some gimp tutorials on youtube, also covering some simple shading colorization.
I think it was this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_IIvcf5okw

[Mariana Xiechai]

@ Dannae: Thank you! I do own a few 2B pencils, I might give hem a go at adding shaded layers
@ Mishka: I don't really do digital shading, and I don't typically draw in a cartoon style, but if I ever take it up I'll take that advice!
@ Bonifarzia: Thanks! I actually had to take a picture of this one. Originally I scanned it, but my scanner is such crap that it literally whited out almost all of the shading that was done.

[Bonifarzia]

Originally I scanned it, but my scanner is such crap that it literally whited out almost all of the shading that was done.

Adjusting the contrast and brightness after scanning the image might still look better, maybe it is worth a try.

[Mariana Xiechai]

I might add some layers to the hair, but for the moment I am content. (I doubt the paper I'm using will take much more abuse though.)

Eleese Batrachian:

[Rigwyn]

Hmm... I can finally connect a face with the elusive character...
Looks great

[Mariana Xiechai]

Hmm... I can finally connect a face with the elusive character...
Looks great

I count it as a win when the camera I'm using to take the picture recognizes it as a "face"

[Rigwyn]

Well, you didn't crack the lens. That says something

[Mariana Xiechai]

Well, you didn't crack the lens. That says something

No, not yet. Though a doodle of Rigwyn is in my plans for the future...

[Rigwyn]

Ooooh.. nice..

[Jilata]

Looks good Mariana

Only thing I'd change the shading of the hair. Usually when I shade hair, I don't draw the whole hair and leave out parts which are going to reflect the light. Like I did for example in this picture. If the spaces are too big or too light for your taste, you can still always make them smaller/darker.