Okay, so the painting of my novel-characters are still running wild over here. They're all over the place, and I'm loving it. If you, uh, fancy trying your hand at it, here's a quick run through of the process (note that I use watercolors):
Draw your character. Defining features are good. 
I can't tell you who this is, of course, Highly Confidential, but notice how different his face shape is from Peter's, or Matt's. It's obvious, even before paint, that this is not Peter or Matt.
First, dash the whole character over with a layer of water. This is so your character won't have dry marks of paint on his or her skin-highly unrealistic. But then, since when do my character look realistic? And when has my novel been realistic? Just trust me on this one--skip the dry marks. 
While he's still wet, put on a thin, even coat of your chosen skin color. Shade wherever there could be the slightest chance of shadow, (under chin, mouth, nose, hair, eyebrows, eyes...) and wherever there is a rounded area (lower lip, cheeks, around edges of face). I shade with the same color as the skin, but with a higher paint-to-water ratio, but with a darker color would probably work too.
In the case of this character, the shading under his eyes carries into his cheeks, since he has very high cheekbones. 
Don't forget ears. Even if you think they'll be covered by your character's hair, it's good to paint them on, then cover them if you find the need to.
Start with a light undercoat for the hair. Now normally, this would be the brightest shade of auburn hair should be, but he's a real redhead in my case. Trust me, I know what I'm getting into. I hope.
Follow your pencil strokes with a darker shade. You can cover them completely, or leave them partially seen. Regardless, it's best if you supplement them with paint; it makes the painting look a bit more realistic. 
Add more paint, between the strokes you've already made. You may wish to use a fan brush, but be careful--fan brushes can be very hard to control, and the last thing you want is disembodied hair hanging over the head of your character.
While the first coat of your character's hair is drying, put on an undercoat for his eye color; make it the base of what color you intend you character's eyes to be.
Put a rim of a darker color around the edge of the iris, then blend it in. How much you blend it is entirely up to you. I usually blend with a tiny bit of the chosen color.
Start streaking your character's hair along each and every pencil line, coming to fine tips of each hair. You can also paint on more hairs, so long as they flow with your original drawing.
Paint the character's pupils a light gray, being careful not to put paint into the highlights of the character's eyes. See the little duct at the edge of each eye? Paint this a very, very, very light pink.
Next, you'll paint darker circles around the edges of your character's pupils, which you'll blend in. I usually use a bit of paint on my brush while blending. Also, I never use a straight black---it's usually a mixture of black and grey. 
Paint around the character's eye with a faint line of grey. With a girly character, I usually add eyelashes, but as this is a boy, I usually keep eyelashes to a minimum, or do not add them at all. Eyelashes should be avoided on male character when drawing in this style, unless you want them to look like girls. Also, paint over the line which is the crease of the eyelid-where you place this crease depends on your character's eye shape.
For you character's eyebrows, you generally use the same colors as the character's hair. Here I've added a touch of brown, so that the eyebrows are distinguishable from the character's hair. This isn't unheard of, either, my hair color is strawberry, but my eyebrows are brown. It can be a bit more extreme in painting---these are fictitious characters, after all. One thing to avoid, however, is giving a blonde character brown or black eyebrows---it gives a very vivid illusion of your character having dyed hair. 
Do any touch-ups necessary for your character's skin, then let the painting dry, hopefully somewhere where it won't get smeared by falling objects, siblings, self, or spontaneous combustion.
Draw your character. Defining features are good. 
I can't tell you who this is, of course, Highly Confidential, but notice how different his face shape is from Peter's, or Matt's. It's obvious, even before paint, that this is not Peter or Matt.
First, dash the whole character over with a layer of water. This is so your character won't have dry marks of paint on his or her skin-highly unrealistic. But then, since when do my character look realistic? And when has my novel been realistic? Just trust me on this one--skip the dry marks. 
While he's still wet, put on a thin, even coat of your chosen skin color. Shade wherever there could be the slightest chance of shadow, (under chin, mouth, nose, hair, eyebrows, eyes...) and wherever there is a rounded area (lower lip, cheeks, around edges of face). I shade with the same color as the skin, but with a higher paint-to-water ratio, but with a darker color would probably work too.
In the case of this character, the shading under his eyes carries into his cheeks, since he has very high cheekbones. 
Don't forget ears. Even if you think they'll be covered by your character's hair, it's good to paint them on, then cover them if you find the need to.
Start with a light undercoat for the hair. Now normally, this would be the brightest shade of auburn hair should be, but he's a real redhead in my case. Trust me, I know what I'm getting into. I hope.
Follow your pencil strokes with a darker shade. You can cover them completely, or leave them partially seen. Regardless, it's best if you supplement them with paint; it makes the painting look a bit more realistic. 
Add more paint, between the strokes you've already made. You may wish to use a fan brush, but be careful--fan brushes can be very hard to control, and the last thing you want is disembodied hair hanging over the head of your character.
While the first coat of your character's hair is drying, put on an undercoat for his eye color; make it the base of what color you intend you character's eyes to be.
Put a rim of a darker color around the edge of the iris, then blend it in. How much you blend it is entirely up to you. I usually blend with a tiny bit of the chosen color.
Start streaking your character's hair along each and every pencil line, coming to fine tips of each hair. You can also paint on more hairs, so long as they flow with your original drawing.
Paint the character's pupils a light gray, being careful not to put paint into the highlights of the character's eyes. See the little duct at the edge of each eye? Paint this a very, very, very light pink.
Next, you'll paint darker circles around the edges of your character's pupils, which you'll blend in. I usually use a bit of paint on my brush while blending. Also, I never use a straight black---it's usually a mixture of black and grey. 
Paint around the character's eye with a faint line of grey. With a girly character, I usually add eyelashes, but as this is a boy, I usually keep eyelashes to a minimum, or do not add them at all. Eyelashes should be avoided on male character when drawing in this style, unless you want them to look like girls. Also, paint over the line which is the crease of the eyelid-where you place this crease depends on your character's eye shape.
For you character's eyebrows, you generally use the same colors as the character's hair. Here I've added a touch of brown, so that the eyebrows are distinguishable from the character's hair. This isn't unheard of, either, my hair color is strawberry, but my eyebrows are brown. It can be a bit more extreme in painting---these are fictitious characters, after all. One thing to avoid, however, is giving a blonde character brown or black eyebrows---it gives a very vivid illusion of your character having dyed hair. 
Do any touch-ups necessary for your character's skin, then let the painting dry, hopefully somewhere where it won't get smeared by falling objects, siblings, self, or spontaneous combustion.
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