Great start, my main point is not to worry about shading, you need to worry about starting. the skeletal position on the Dragoon has the rear leg at a funny angle and because he is further forward (positioning he is not facing the NM but to the side of it and vice versa ~).
Think Where am I standing relative to my target if you are doing a varifocal art form and then once you have directions on basic form sorted, work on the soft details (I.e Armor features etc) then do your shading, then over the shading do your hard lines so they are prominant through the shading.
Don't take this as criticism though! Its a fantastic first drawing and definitely show worthy
Your ability to draw forms and shading are pretty good for a beginner. One tip i could offer from a fellow self-taught artist is the key that makes drawn art look more realistic than any other technique is shadowing. Once you master how to place shadows and shade objects that ar obscured from a light source, the "realness" if your art will like level up a ton. Excellent job though!