Thanks to Sandra T for sharing some HINTS AND IDEAS:
Very fine stippling strokes will help smooth patchy shading in portraits. (This one was taken from a VGCP newsletter from 1974.)
My addition for this is, I often take a photo on my phone of the piece I am painting to have a look to see what is out of place or what might need fixing. I have found it does help.
If we all share our art it will survive. Without all those great ideas and learning curves it will be gone forever.