These are some of my more recent pieces:

I'd like feedback on my current technique (the second one is my preferred method of shading), along with some advice on coloring.

Also, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to draw eyes that don't look cartoon. That comes from the question of whether or not I should have a more semi-realistic style or an expressive one.

If you have any anatomy tips, that would also be great!

I think your shading is pretty good, just make sure you have a clear idea of where the light is coming from and how it would interact with the surface it hits. I think the shadows on the tree in the first one look a bit strange as it seems like light is coming from above, not the left side since both wolves in the picture have shadows under them. It's a little strange that the branches of the tree are visible when the majority are covered with petals/leaves.

As for the second image the legs seem unshaded compared to the rest of the body. The second ear is missing (Usually it should be seen but correct me if I'm wrong)

If you want to draw eyes that don't look cartoon, practice drawing from photos of real wolf eyes. Compare your style of eyes to realistic wolf eyes and see what you can change. Your style won't transform completely, but with practice, you can get used to drawing realistic wolf eyes. Whichever style of eyes you prefer, semi-realistic, expressive or even a mixture of the two is completely up to you. You can experiment and decide which one you like the best.

Coloring wise, I am also not very good in and I can't seem to follow my own advice. I think the sky looks a bit flat and could use a gradient of a slightly darker blue to a lighter blue. The clouds look fine to me. The tree is what bothers me the most about the image, because of the visible branches and confusing shading. The petals in the sky seem to be just as large as the ones on the ground which is fine, but they don't really match with the clean flat texture of the tree. I would try to fix that by using your brush to make an outline around the tree that is similar to the petals. Also, try not to blend the pink part of the tree too much, it reduces the effect of the shading and the result will look rather flat.

Sorry for writing a whole essay and making you read all of that, I attempted to go through most of what you wanted advice for. Some of my advice may not be really helpful, so you don't have to listen to it. Good luck.

Thank you! I really appreciate it. Yeah, the tree is somewhat odd -- I knew something was off, but I hadn't put it together.

Yes, thank you! I hadn't noticed that before.

The first thing I notice is that your backgrounds are kinda flat. There's no real depth. A way to fix this would be making the shadows much more noticeable, and having a better understanding of lighting. For the tree, try building up layers. Start with a much darker colour, maybe even burgundy, and build up the layers making them more pink and light as you go. Then highlight the bits of the tree with a light pink where the sun is hitting the most. You could also add a lighter colour around the outside of the wolves to show where the light is hitting them if the light is strong.

On your first piece, the shadows on the wolf on the left make the lighting look like it is coming towards him, and the same goes for the other wolf who is facing the other way. The wolves' shadows make it look like the light is coming from directly above, and the shadows on the tree match the shadowing on the first wolf. So you have lighting coming from many different angles and it doesn't work. You can't have multiple suns. The main issue is the shadowing on the wolves being different. If any of that makes sense.

As for the eyes, if you want them to be more realistic you need to fix the shape. Look at real wolf eyes and imagine them from different angles.

Credit to Hotnstock.da for both

As for anatomy, the first thing I notice is that you cannot see the other ear on the wolf. And although it depends on the angle, drawing the other ear just slightly poking out makes it look more natural and also helps with the depth issue a bit. As for the rest, I would just recommend using stock images from Deviantart and using them to help you. You can also trace/heavy reference stock images on your own to just get a feel for how the anatomy works. Browse through other people's artwork, wolf images etc.

As for the wolf colouring, I can't help there but I do really like it.

I hope this helps.

Thank you! This is actually really helpful. I noticed a lot of things wrong with the first image as well. I really appreciate the help. :)