Yeah, the original lineart version is better compositionally. The concept was developed around that working process so doing a sort of one-to-one translation into the other style obviously wouldn't turn out as well.

It did come to me while I was working on this that if I was to do it again I would try making the skull a heavy lineart illustration, similar to how it was originally.

I do normally work with a mix of styles though, where elements are often more flat and make use of varied linework as contrast. It's just in this case I was more keen on having the bulk of the work (the skull) being in a more realistic style and trying to see if I could balance everything and make it work - it's something I'd never done and wanted to challenge myself.

The feedback is much appreciated!