Finally, someone's actually giving me insight I can use. Well...somewhat... I have had a few of my friends on FA offering up advice when they can, but it hasn't been as fruitful as what you just gave me. The issue with the colored pencils coloring unevenly has been evident to me for a while, but I didn't think about doing strokes like that. Thanks for pointing it out. :3
Edit: on a side note, do you think colored markers would cover up strokes better? I was going to get some before along with my colored pencils, but they were just out of my price range at the time. Next time I'm out shopping, I'm thinking about picking them up.