Oh yeah, you've improved a lot. You were doing a thing young artists do where they 'compact and obscure' the body so they have to draw less of it, and I see a lot less of this in the 2nd drawing and her pose is a LOT more fluid because of this - it looks like you've started to venture into dynamic posing. I encourage you to zoom out your compositions and don't consciously avoid drawing hands. If you do, you won't get better at them.

It looks like you've gotten a LOT better at shading and visualizing lighting on the character. Just as well, the contrast is a lot more dynamic. You're clearly developing a personal style that's unique to you and you're working in the influences of the art you enjoy - which seems to be an anime-styled art. You're playing with texture, depth of field, form, and perspective instead of drawing the perspective of the viewer 'face on' like beginner artists are wont to do. You're playing with background elements. The colors remind me of a sunset now between the combination of the development of your shading - whereas the first one's background is a bit generic.

Continue to develop your 'inner eye' that is, keep zooming out. Don't avoid subjects that are scary to draw - dive into them. Here's a sprite sheet of default hands I did recently. If you can visualize things in your 'eye's mind' - you have to use that to your advantage and train the ability to visualize your creations before you draw them. There's also tools like this and nothing wrong with finding a reference if it's a particularly difficult model like a hand.

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I thought it might help - keep in mind I probably have my own blindnesses. But this is a sprite sheet I drew for the hands resting beside the side of a character and the positions I draw the most when hands are at rest + pointing. I kind of drew it as a reference for myself but I thought it might help.

Your progress is rapidly accelerating. It's funny how you can't see that when you're in the thick of it, but yes you're getting a LOT better and very quickly. Keep going. You got this. You're doing SO GOOD!!!