Does color theory count?

I started drawing digitally some years ago, but my rate of improvement was quite slow, and at one point I quit trying to draw for an entire year due to frustration with my inability to pick up coloring in a single week. What I drew here is by no means top-class, but when I started I never imagined being good enough for even this.

I wish to keep improving this skill forever, but alas, drawing Lenins will not put food on the table. Although I wonder if one day I’ll be skilled enough for my drawings to actually do that.

By the way, I wish to rant about outlines for a bit. When I started drawing I initially attempted to replicate an anime-ish style, however, what always stood in the way is the “lineart phase” after the sketch phase. I was never able to get it right, and I always thought it was a waste of time anyway because the sketch itself always looked much more lively, not just that, BUT OUTLINES DON’T EXIST IN REAL LIFE! But hey, at least now I can draw anime girls too, I guess.