A simpler coloring style?

I've been practicing some other coloring styles lately. While I really like how the inkless painting style looks, it does take a long time, so I experimented with a more cell-shaded technique. Inking in black is still not easy for me (shaky hands means multiple erases and re-dos), but it allows me to fill colors in quicker. Still not really sure how I feel about it...probably needs more contrast between the shadows and the rest of the colors.  

Also...background techniques continue to elude me >_<

(A note about Alex's hair...this is a very short-lived style that was not her choice at all.)

Has it really been so long??

WOW, it's been a long time (9 months??). Finally trying to get back into doing some art, so I dug out a couple old pieces and finished them.

The first one is quite a bit older than the second; done during a period when I wasn't too keen on inking at all. I tried to add a background on, but with the lack of inking I couldn't make the figures stand out. I think the expressions are pretty good, but the anatomy could be better :/ I have a problem with head size, most likely because of how many years I spent not really drawing people with human proportions...

Anyway, it's meant to be Raina and Alex during a period pretty early on in their relationship. Things are pretty rocky for them for a while. 

Been toying with Alex's design lately...I really want more of a contrast between her hair and skin color (darker skin, paler hair), and I changed the way her earrings look. 

This one is fairly recent, done with the help of a reference (though still not the best anatomy-wise). Because of the heavier inking on it, I was able to do a textured background/lighting experiment on it which I think looks okay :) Really trying to work on the backgrounds lately.

Raina's lack of self-confidence is one of her biggest weaknesses, and Charlie is a big factor in helping her overcome that. The image is a dancing lesson that turns into a bit more than either of them bargained for XD.