/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

>extremely comfy
>i like how the figure stands out from the background by being less detailed
>the background is beautiful and very detailed
>remind me of a still of a movie

post inspiration and tutorials. where do you start when you draw a background?

My gains this year aren't as obvious as my gains to a year prior, so I want to put real effort into improving this year and making my art look distinct by the end of 2020.
Put more effort into learning different coloring styles and incorporating backgrounds into my pieces. (Pic related, closest I could find to a desired goal.)
Make a "finished" drawing at least once a week, push for 2-3 if I can.
Post on each of my socials regularly again and gain at least 1K followers on each platform if not 3k-5k+. Try to hit 20-50 patrons on Patreon.
Launch and maintain a Twitch, eventually upgrade to a PC so I can stream comfortably.
Make at least $300 on art alone monthly while balancing my time with some sort of part-time.
Design a ton of OCs and finally make a 4koma webcomic and not abandon it.
Design at least dozen shirts, keep 'em up on Redbubble type storefront.

Slightly related to art but I also want to learn how to assemble and paint figures + basic coding for the purpose of programming video games. Hoping to incorporate these skills in Patreon activity someway or another.

It's a big list but I've been out of college for almost 3 years now and NEET'd about 90% of that time. If I can't force myself to put the effort and lay down the foundation to turn this art thing into a career by the end of this year it'll probably be time to consider going back and just looking for anything that can get me a living wage for the next 40 years of my life.

Anyone got any video/book/tutorial recommendations or just general advice on rendering beach-scapes or water?

Pic would be something I think is ideal, but I'm not exactly certain how to build up the shades of the ocean and the seafoam. Gonna post two or three more pics to show what I'm going for.