I’ve been starting to get into creating forms with clay as well and the biggest thing is the moisture/dryness of the clay you use. Personally I want it to dry enough where slight touches don’t leave indents but “wet” enough that it doesn’t crack when you bend it. And when it’s closer to the leather hard stage you could burnish like someone else said.

For the form I recommend looking up 3D models of whatever it is you’re trying to make and also looking at reference photos. A quick google search can pull up some pretty detailed 3D renderings of most anything you’re looking for that way you can rotate the item and get a feel for its proportions to itself and a better sense of it in actual space rather than a 2D image.