I'd start off simply with just a figure and using Snarlygribbly's EZSkin (I also use bopperthjis' EZSkin Cycles add-on) on the figure after adding a texture.

Then I'd use EZDome with a HDRI to provide illumination, rather than the default lights. This also gives something for eyes and other reflective surfaces to reflect.

Set a sensible render size for experiments. Then you can play with the different options in the render settings to see what may work best for you. You could set a high number of samples and with Progressive selected, stop the render when you think it's 'cooked' enough for example.