YES! This looks much better and cleaner. Every drawing starts as a horrible mess and everything is just ugly. It is the time spent refining that makes the difference. Just keep iterating over it (adding layers or just redrawing things) until you look at it and say "This is as good as I can get this at this time with the time I have available." Over time, you will get quicker and better at the refinement and that's when you will be making images that sometimes won't need a ton of refinement for what your purpose is.
And never be afraid to erase - especially the things you feel are working in a piece, because sometimes you just have to do that in order to fix the other things that are wrong with a piece. This is referred to as "killing your darlings." Here's an example of that from my current project. On the left is my reference, then my first session pass, then my current status. I was really, really pleased with how the color was blending and how the buttons were looking. But there's a lot that is wrong with the placement of things and larger issues of proportion in the full piece, so I have had to repaint the area. I really didn't want to, but I know that doing so will make this a stronger piece in the long run. I don't know how much longer I'm going to work on this piece, as sometimes my impatience wins and I just want to move on, which is a normal thing too. But as long as I can maintain a sense of calm and enjoyment while I'm working on things, I will continue... at least until I have to move on. I feel like I'm working on balancing the idea of making things as good as I can while also keeping in mind that they are just exercises and there will be more practices just around the corner. There's a saying that goes something like "a piece of art is never finished, simply abandoned." And another saying "Done is better than perfect."
Have a great and productive week and keep on grinding!
Cheers,
-Jim
