Thanks. The background was, in fact, the easiest part - all I did was brush the background completely orange, then select a large brush and go over patches with lighter and darker colours.

The ship, similarly, gained its basic shape from a large, gray blob, with the details added afterward. Tomorrow is a snow-day, so I'll have some free time, and I might persuade myself to go back over in detail and touch up the ship itself, decrease the background size, and perhaps add some more details.