Heh, ya, I've really enjoyed most of the changes I've seen with 2.8, there are only a couple of nagging little issues I have with it, mostly them hiding way too much away in drop downs just so they can do away with the old tool panel which I really miss having. Can't wait for this weekend when I can finally give it a proper go! I'm waiting for some new hardware to arrive on sat. that should finally cure my system of it's constant rebooting issues any time I try to do any serious work with it.
As to your model, I'm not a big fan of over-exaggerated curves. But at least you are going for a more stylized/cartoony look, which makes it a lot more tolerable. I'd be a bit interested to see how it looks in the LookDev viewport mode (the one just to the left of the rendered option you have it on there). It's basically a simplified version of Eevee that ignores light sources in your scene and just uses one of the included HDRI maps to give you a quick preview of what your materials would look like in a naturally lit environment. It's the best mode to use when messing around with material settings and for showing off WIP previews. The rendered mode expects you to set up your own HDRI and/or lighting, which is why things are a bit on the dim and flat side in those pics you posted. Anyhow, keep at it, looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
Oh, also, another Blender hair tutorial started showing up in my recommendations the past few days. Though I haven't had a chance to check it out myself yet, the thumbnail looks promising:
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There was also this one, that I also haven't checked out yet, but it just showed up while searching for the one above. Looks like it is a two parter and probably covers particle hair by the looks of it:
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