Yes, to tell the truth, with the contrast of the character being red, it works because it gives the browns more of a yellow tint.  

I understand about the rushing.  I feel like I'm rushed in any contest.  You did good in spite of that. 

It's a pretty cool shot )

Oohhh shit, I was going to do this one for the challenge, I already got some of the lineart and I also started composing the palette lol

Could have used more colors I gues, but I think it still works like this. Also I found out about the challenge a bit late, so was kinda rushing it. Went with whatever comes to mind without thinking too much about it. Brown here, brown there, brown everuwhere )

I love the shape of new pixels in the morning.  . Really awesome job!  Your colors are fantastic.  Even though the smoke in the background and helicopters are brown, they are still very dynamic.