All I know is that things are not going well. I thought that maybe i'd have time today to practice and get better but...this is kind of depressing. I might post a hand wip of this character to get help on that too, but one disaster at a time.
I don't know how to sculpt eyelids or eye sockets. It's one of the most difficult facial parts for me to do besides the mouth poportions and nostrils. I could really use some help.
You're nowhere near the amount of polygons it would take to slow Blender down, so I don't think that's the issue. Give Sculptris a try for sure to see if you like it, but I don't think it'll solve this particular problem. Getting a tablet would make a much bigger difference than switching programs.
I think the main issue is that you're worrying about eyelids way too early. Start from the very large forms and work your way down to the details. Don't sculpt a mouth or nose until the shape of the head is excellent. It's actually impossible to sculpt good eyelids if the surrounding anatomy (cheekbones, brow, nose, etc...) is off.
To get a better understanding of the face, draw a few first. I highly recommend taking these courses before jumping back into sculpting:
https://cgcookie.com/course/facial-features
https://cgcookie.com/tutorial/portrait-painting
https://cgcookie.com/tutorial/warrior-tutorial-timelapse
After that, this course will help you with sculpting faces:
https://cgcookie.com/course/art-of-sculpting
Sorry to be so blunt, but you've got to walk before you run.
Thanks so much for the advice, Jonathan! And it wasn't blunt, I really needed that pointer on the places I need to revise and spruce up. I do have a few questions, though:
How does one get good anatomy and proportions when working with the skin modifier? Sometimes even the basemeshes can take me 20-30 minutes and they aren't too good, especially feet and hands.
How do you make good basemesh necks and heads with the skin modifier? They turn out very wonky for me and it's hard for proportions when it's sort of 'glitching' trying to make the polys.
Thanks again! I'll check out the courses and work at it.