I'm assuming pillow shading is the pixel shadow effect of using 2-3 colors on a sequence to give a sort of varying effect of shadow, and im guessing my problem was I placed the shading badly. This is an assumption, because honestly my gfx lingo is lacking.
After I check out some other examples I'll try to make the shield better, so maybe its useable for something (obviously not GK, becuase even if it was godly, we all know it would never go up.)