stormy seas (work in progress)

I usually don't post work in progress, but I figured what the heck.
I'm also doing something else unusual, which is my approach at this illustration. I'm doing the background by itself first, as apposed to just doing the piece all together. I wanted to see how it looks alone before I lay out the characters too.
Anyway, I still have to work on the water and a few other textures before I get to the characters, but here's what I've got so far...

feel free to comment or add any thoughts.
Peace,
James