work-in-progress fox character

Wanting to break away from my flat-shaded 'style,' I've been chipping away at this fox character for a while. Due to school ramping up, I've had to put him on hold for a bit, so I decided to just post this little milestone

He's supposed to sit somewhere between toony & realistic (sort of like the approach taken by WETA digital with Adventures of Tintin), but I think he's leaning too much towards the toony side. I'm also not thrilled with the fur groom, specifically the shape of the tufts behind the cheeks. I can't get the shape I want with them. Not to mention, the fur is also not finished and lacks details (especially on the ears)

This is where I'm at now:

viewport screenshots

It took a lot of revisions to get here, and there's still more to do!