Sorry for very very long reply,, i am not active in DA more than a year,,,,
I will help as much as i can, hope this will help,,
It Doesn,t matter what media you are using to draw,, but for me i like use pencil and drawing pen for line art, then scan it for colouring,, you can use SAI or Photoshop, for basic and mix colour i prefer SAI because it's easier and doesn't need high spec computer, then usually used Phoshop for finishing,, specially for light and glow part,,
for cuteness actually i hard time with it to, but cuteness is highly depend on character pose and angle,, try copy another art pose first for training,, then try create pose without look another art,, it need hard work,,
but i am sure you can do it, everyone can do it,, if you don't satisfied with your colour try another colour mix, if you don't satisfied with your character style try another style,, just explore as much as you can with your art,,,
i am really sorry for very long reply