The dark areas do look like shading, not like eye shadow and whatnot.
It looks pretty good. If you are going to do shading though, it's good to remember to do the whole thing instead of just a few areas. For example, instead of just being around the eyes and nose, there would also be dark areas around his ears, chin, and scarf.
It's great to try new things, it helps you expand as an artist. ^^