Do not post (yet)

I'm not half bad, you know? I'm no total newbie. I've drawn traditionally forever, and I picked up digital drawing a couple years ago (though I only have a mouse, not a tablet). Just to show my credibility:
- Traditional examples
- Digital examples

Now, onto my tips.

The Obvious
- Use refs. It's not shameful to not be able to get something right out of your mind's eye. Most people who can draw can't even do that.
- Don't claim other peoples' shit as your own. Not only is it an asshole move, but it'll also launch a cascade of problems that will only increase as each one happens, like a domino effect.
- Tracing isn't wrong. Bearing in mind the above bullet point, tracing is actually not a bad way to help yourself get a sense of how to shape and position things. You want to keep traced pieces to yourself, and you want to wean off of tracing as you go along with your art and progress. This will make sure that you develop your own style, not somebody else's. If you do share a traced piece -- if, for example, it's the only reference for an OC that you have -- be sure to ask the OG artist for permission; if given, credit the lines to them.

Coloring
- When using gray, black, or white, tint them. This means that you shouldn't use PURE gray, black, or white. You should have a veeeeeery light tint of blue, green, yellow, red, orange, purple, etc in there! It can make the difference between an 'eh' palette and a '' palette. This is a rough coloring I did over this drawing, but take a look at my colors for this guy. He's not just plain B&W; he has a slight purple tint! Playing around in hex code sites can distinctly visualize the tints like that for you.
- Don't go overboard on the colors. You've gotta pay attention to a couple of things when you're creating a palette and design for a character: blend, realism, weight (distribution or spread). All of these, sans weight, are flexible, depending on the context if the design. For example -- in regards to realism -- if you're designing a human character with special powers, it wouldn't be considered 'realistic' for them to have weird green markings on their skin; however, it would be acceptable because special powers are also not 'realistic'.
If you've never heard the terms "Mary Sue" or "Gary Sue," you should look them up on Google Images to get a sense of how not to color a character. Flashy, neon, clashing colors do not usually work. They can, when wielded the right way; there's a fine line between well-done and overcooked that it takes some time to develop a sense of.