Mad Men's Leading ladies

So my goal this summer is to increase my skill in lighting and color. I never realized just how terrible I am at it! I thought I would have my subject be fan art since I don't really indulge, hope you like mad men

What I find to be difficult is to balance the use of line and color so it doesn't overpower the picture. Also while working with my professor, he mentioned how I need to have a light source for all of my pieces. Even the imaginative ones. This proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. I guess dramatic lighting is another thing I'll have to practice.

Then comes BACKGROUNDS. These are more difficult than color and lighting combined. It's important that it doesn't overpower the main subject. But then again it shouldn't be so simple that it doesn't look like it was rushed. This seems to be my problem.

When I find difficulty in executing my own cartoons I find it helpful to look at old ones. Recently I've been watching the Hey Arnold series, and it looks like they use traditional art for the backgrounds, where the people look more digital. Perhaps this is something I can try for next time, since it really makes them pop. I also know that some Disney movies seem to use this technique as well.