Thanks for asking the forum, @Art-of-B!
I think my chiefmost improvement was in color, but there has been an overall elevation in my personal ability to do good work. Here's something from earlier in the year:

I labored over this one out of passion for a lovely lady I'm privileged enough to call Girlfriend, but while the passionate side of the work made things come together fairly well, I don't think this could be called much other than a study. At the time, this was the best I had ever done in terms of color, and with all the details involved (a lot for me at the time) I'd say that it was a breakthrough, but not phenomenal. Not to mention, I didn't really know a ton about painting or brushes, so I was at a disadvantage there as well.

This illustration kinda showcases how far I've come this year. I understand color way better, I've begun to understand painting and light, and my composition skills, while not particularly revolutionary in this one, are better, most likely due to Inktober training. It's messy in spots, but I've recently begun branching my skills out again, so, for a little while, I'm alright with that.
Also, lots of the help I've needed to improve has come from the SVS community, so thank you!