COLOR COLOR COLOR

I thought I knew color really well. It turns out I don't really understand color...

I spend the whole day trying to figure out the color for THIS! 

And it still looks monotone. I have spend at least 6 hours on this. 

Then I spend an hour on this

And it turns out pretty good. 

WHY?????

Is it because I spend too much time on the first one!? or is it that the second drawing happen to be kind of monotone so I can do it with ease!? I think the issue I have with the first drawing is that I didn't start it with vibrant colors so the colors just gets muddier and muddier and muddier. This just reminds me of my oil painting lesson: always always always start with vibrant pigments!  I can only make my paintings muddier as I put on the next layer. The other big problem is that I have no idea the direction of the sunlight. 

I didn't know what I ate today but my stomach hurts