Blog header in-process

I love color, but establishing the right mood with it is really difficult.

I was trying to go for something much darker, but I kind of stuck to my old roots and ended up with this... which goes to show that I still can't break my old color habits.

Anyone have good suggestions for making fast color blocks??  I just can't seem to move past my bad habits, and I'd like to break out with a new technique.  Also, my new little avatar doodle.