You may not want to hear this, but maybe consider putting in a background. It can be really simple, nothing like a fully rendered fantasy piece. I was watching a one of Jazza's videos where he describes his own troubles with backgrounds. One key thing I took away from that was that backgrounds, however simple, can provide crucial details to the piece, even if the focus is on a character.
Here's the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZq0...A&spfreload=10
Hope this helps!