1:11pm Dec 24 2011 (last edited on 1:12pm Dec 24 2011)
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Biggest thing, dog - don't be so afraid of dark colors, even for something that's white. ;o Contrast is a good thing when it comes to shading. Dark shadows, bright highlights, all that. It gives things form, even against similar-colored backgrounds, and makes them more believable.
Though, straight-up black sometimes isn't the best choice. Something I always hear when it comes to colored works is to never just shade with black or darker versions of the same color. In the case of your owl's eyes and beak, the black attracts the viewer's eye and keeps it from looking anywhere else in the picture. It just keeps wanting to go back and look at the same spot.
When it comes to shading in general, using hues of color usually just makes things look more.. alive than shading in greys and blacks does. For instance, rather than the greys you have right now, an owl like yours that's sitting outside and all would probably have some tinges of sky-blue in its shadows.
Even browns are often better than blacks and greys. They're relatively unsaturated, which works for shadows, but they're still a little more lively-looking than just blackened versions of one same color.
Unfortunately I can't help much with the more digital aspects of things, since I pretty much only work traditionally right now. But hopefully this helps a little anyway. x3
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