Hmmmmmm well I really like it!!

They look very nice. The backgrounds look very nice. I don't know why, the walls look very "cute." Well anyway. love em both.

I like the 2 one alot

I like the look of your hand painted pictures, but because they are lighter colors the anime scans are making them look washed out.
I would (my two cents, for what its worth)
A) Vector the drawn backgrounds
B) Extract colors with the dropper tool from photos or anime background to get more vibrant colors.

Why do you have to make 30 of these in 100 days?

It realy nice !
try to make the character loke like the painted to like the beckground

I wonder what it would look like if you drew the images, too? Trace them (you don't have to do it cleanly), and then color them the same way you colored the backgrounds. So that everything looks hand drawn.

Alright this is faster than vectoring (probably faster than actually painting) but here is my idea:
1: scan in the line art of the background.
2:set the layer to multiply and create a couple of layers underneath it.
3:On the layer to the back paint your sky (gradient or however you wish)
Work your way foreward with each layer (the ground, then the trees, then the benches lightposts, ect
3.5: a good technique to use is to start with only the basic blocks of colors then shadows, and then refine, refine, refine to the smaller details, finally adding the highlights at the end.
4: With the different part of the picture on different layers, then you can correct the edges and colors at will.
A good place to find nature and other effects brushes is deviantart.com
Stock photo for color reference : http://www.sxc.hu/ (this page is my bible, I use it to death! and its free :) )

I hope that helps! And I hope your wife has a happy birthday (I know if someone was this thoughtful for me I would be in heaven).. your wife is lucky,
your a good husband :)

Everyone listen to fooblued... he/she knows what exactly he/she is talking about...
at least thats what my sketching tutor was telling me too...

i can see colour, decide what colour to use, but alas my hands are colour blinds...
if you have the same problem as i am, draw your sketches in black and white, then colour them in the computer after you scan them...

make sure you got suitable character to match your sketching styles...

cool dude, good luck!

thx