playing around with environments

I am trying to get some things done for my portfolio, and I will keep adding and subtracting things until I get it done.  Bluesky's application is due friday, and though I'm not a junior, it's worth a shot.

These are some environments I'm working on.  They aren't super detailed, my teacher told me with the time I have to work on them, they shouldnt' be super refined but should get the point across.  I am still having a lot of trouble with lighting (what's new?). I feel, for the lack of experience I have doing this sort of thing, that these are somewhat decent.  Still gotta touch up a few things.

The first one is done in photoshop, in about 30 minutes.  I wanted to play around with colors and try to get a good idea of placement.  I'm still not completely pleased and it could use a few touch-ups.  The second is done in illustrator with vector shapes.  I've also used the brush tool for a few of the lines.  I've got a couple more shapes to add for that one.