There's definitely diminishing returns if you use too many shades. That's probably why I've ended up using anime-style shading with only one shadow color in most of my large sprite art. But the resolution also tends to multiply the workload. I think my own sweet spot seems to be a size of about 128x128.
Anyway, I love the little details in her headband. Something about the scaly texture makes it look complete. Like it couldn't fit any more detail. Maybe I should try something like that.
There's definitely diminishing returns if you use too many shades. That's probably why I've ended up
