Overall

Vision Vision

Originality Originality

Technique Technique

Impact Impact

I saw this and remembered my old critique of the original. Reading it back, I may have been a little gushy over it. But even then, everything I said about the original still stands to me. And I can also see that you've tried to preserve what really worked in the original and polished over the one particular thing I had detracted for. Plus, your style has evolved and been polished in general.Starting with the obvious, the sole original "complaint" I had with the original was that Dash had a certain detached-ness in expression from an otherwise high energy scene. In this, it certainly is improved upon, yet still feels to be missing something. Her expression is more attentive, more lively... yet whether be a quirk of your style or obscured by the ambient lighting, her eyebrows and mouth tend to fade. Zoomed out, she merely appears to be looking over at the viewer, in a kind of "What?" look. Closer up, the confidence and cockiness is easily apparent, however.Next, when comparing the two side by side, there is a very noticeable shift in your style since then. Your current style is sharper—the shadows more defined, the bounce light, farther reaching, and the water, clearly cut and polished like a diamond. The pose remains the same, yet in the repaint, the head is turned more towards the viewer whilst the scarf is on the opposite side. The rainbow trails in the original imparted a more magical feel, which the repaint gives off a more smoky air. An outright additional boost over the original is the inclusion of what appears to be Cloudsdale in the background; perhaps because of it, the cloud bank in the background feels farther and increases the sense of space impressively. Everything is in higher definition, bar none; a testament to the progress of your skill.But even if I said the general composition of the original was retained, there is are a few minor spacing differences from it that, unfortunately, dull the impact.First, overlay the new over the old. In the original, Dash occupied most of the center of the image—Dash including the rainbow trails, that is—leaving the larger wave that she pushed up to occupy a proportionally larger part of the foreground. In the repaint, the splash from her impact is reduced and the overall space from the left edge of the image to Dash is also reduced. I feel the original's left wave played a subtle part of the perceived speed and impact of the overall scene. This is played down in the repaint, leaving the impression that she isn't coming into the image as fast—at a guess, she is coming in at half the speed.Another spacing difference is the very slight distance between the bottom edge of the image and her lower hoof. It and the above spacing difference tells this; Dash in the repaint takes up more of the image space overall, even if it's a subtle amount. It takes focus from the scenery, which in the repaint feels to be trying to gain more attention than Dash a la higher detail.The vivid colors may be contributing to this subject-scenery attention bid. Brighter color against a dark background will naturally draw the eye. The original used darker shades, downplaying the s-s argument and letting the composition speak over it. Perhaps that was an accidental boon to it, but in the repaint, everything is visually fighting for attention. Be it through brighter colors, higher detail, or stronger sense of space, the piece is louder over all and seem to be singing in slightly different keys.Overall, the brighter colors and sharpened lines leave this a more polished piece. The same things I've said about the tilt of the horizon in the original—the cool-warm/rainbow contrast, the cycle that the eye follows from the rainbows to the horizon, then to Dash, only to repeat—still stand as a strong point of this piece. There are additional improvements dotted about, and this is still a great piece of its own merit. Yet when compared to the original, some things work better, some things are lost.I've given a 4.5 on Originality purely for the fact it is a repaint—this idea has been done before, obviously. Yet it's more of a token detraction; that is the purpose of a repaint.