Myself as A Pony

Did the critique have something to do with shading perhaps? (The picture has some interesting shading, kind of like its being backlit, or maybe lit by a campfire or something.)

No, it was mostly on technique on my line art and a few other details. But the shading, I was trying to go for a more anime style.

and if your referring to my bg, I was kinda trying to go for more emphasis on the where the lighting was positioned so that the shading would make sense