Good Point, My Dear Twilight

I cannot recall the point at which these DS paintings went from fun, simple little projects, to genuinely challenging artistic endeavors, but I know for certain the bar keeps raising.
When I said in the artist's comments for "Challenge Accepted" ( [link] ) that it didn't meet my standards of quality, this is to what I was referring. I'm not saying it's perfect,(far from it) but I am truly pleased with how it turned out.
When I started it on May twelfth, I figured I'd have it done in a week. I made steady progress on it until the twentieth. Then the time came to start shading Pinkie. I was completely baffled on how to go about it. The colors were either too red, or too blue, and never matched the lighting of the environment. I was so frustrated with my unsuccessful attempts that I abandoned it for two weeks. When I finally picked it up again on the fourth of June, I was tempted to scrap the project for good, but with a bit of persistence and help from a source that will for the time being remain nameless, I was able to finish it. Aren't you glad?

Based on this screenshot [link]