This is so fun to do every year! Usually I see a transition from one way of doing things to a new and better way of doing things when I fill these out. Like last year, I began the transition from inked digital work to line-less digital work. In fact January's of this year is my last digital icon I did. This year I am observing more subtle changes, like playing with layer types, brush size, and different level of "finish". Just a LOTTA dang art, so it was hard to choose.
Although it's subtle, I can see more refinement in the fur towards the end of they year as well as more realistic use of light. Of course, all of it's beautiful I love seeing improvement in even the best of artists because it's really inspiring to me as a beginner <3 Thank you for posting!