Finished the Background today, took 10-12 hours.

I need to figure out how to render leaves and such quicker and more realistic.

Tools Used for character Portrait:
Convert to black and white
Layers
Smudge Tool (10 for large patches of editing) (2 for refining hair) (1 for adding the detailed hairs)
Gaussian Blur (For shadow Gradients)
Smudge Stick(For the diversity in the fur)
Dodge tool & Burn Tool (For fine detailed shading)
Brush tool
Add Noise

Tools used for background:
Brush tool
Gaussian Blur (To diversify the color palette)
Smudge Stick(To add different shades to the colors)
Burn Tool/ Dodge Tool (For shadows and Highlights)
Spatter (To randomize the colors a bit)
Palette Knife(To give it a nice shrubbery look)
Smudge Tool (To give it a stylized depth)
Add Noise

Then For the final touch i exported the product as a PNG and reloaded the png itself and added some final touches while it was all one layer.