Sushi - some ideas just don't gel well

I haven't done much sketches lately because I'm intensively working on my next painting. So, I thought, well, why not share something here that I've learned while painting Sushi. You see, originally, I had in mind to create a flat/cartoony design that looked awesome on paper, but just didn't end up working as well as I thought it would. Thanks for all the folks and friends who pointed out (the obvious) to me - the final image looks miles better :)

Here is Sushi's original design - well, sometimes, some "big" ideas just don't cut it...