You asked for some tips so I hope these help. I'm adding links to my tutorials for certain parts of drawing. Scroll thru and read some of the steps that give valuable info (you probably already know what my tuts involve).
I think that's about it. Pick & choose which one helps you the most. Hope this is what you wanted. (TIP) A lot of my tuts I've used gray pastels... don't worry, pencil 2HB or No.2 gets about the same results, it just take longer to cover an area and darken.