This is much improved from the original. Much smoother, however the issue of blending into the background is still present. With how much more cleaned up everything is, I'd say it's a fair trade off. I do like the cleaner dots and overall smoothness. What software is this, and what drawing pad?
Damn do I wish NG had threaded review replies... Regarding your previous response about haters, don't mind them. Keep working on your craft and eventually your fans will outnumber them. The way I see it, lack of negative feedback hurts more than it helps. Leaves no benchmark to improve off of. If someone doesn't hate what you're doing for whatever reason, logical or fallacious, you're not doing it hard enough. :)
Anyway, keep up the good work!