So I finally found a way to make backgrounds that feels comfortable and I think looks nice. Kinda shameful it took so much pondering on my part but all I needed to feel like it "clicked" was gradients. That's it. So I'm using that now.

Also this last piece took me way, way too long to finish. I really need to nail down my shading game, it's ridiculous how many hours it takes for me to do. And it doesn't even look FANTASTIC so to speak so kinda unhappy with that. HOWEVER everything else is coming together rather nicely, I'm feeling good about my art and that's really good for the mind...