At the first picture you see a girl and a bird.
Should you work with a colored outline, as above, or with a black outline usually depends on the picture as a whole. Below is the same design, but with a black outline. I have no clear preference ...
First I worked out the complete background in detail and then put a blur over it. Below the drawing without blur.
And some sketches ...
In the second picture you see a boy and a whale.
In this drawing I wanted to try some brushes. And also look at the light effects it in the drawing. Hereafter some sketches.