I kinda bounce between cel shading and overly soft shading. Usually I combine the two because coloring is hard and that makes it look a little better. Like the purple haired girl I did a bit of both.
I don't mean to sound like a beggar, but even if you can't afford a picture, spreading this around to people who might be interested really does help! Word of mouth is the only type of advertising I've got and, sadly, I'm not friends with everyone on the planet (yet).