Heh, I'm glad the design is a mix. I've actually never played Mortal Kombat or Soul Reaver though. =(
I've considered the b/w line, or shaded stuff before, but I'm just not as interested by it somehow or something. That may be a part of my brain being silly or something.
But purposely sticking a complement in there, and having to deal with it sounds like it might be helpful. I've been thinking about complements and how to use them lately, but I think I get them too muted if I put them in at all. Thanks for the suggestion!
This guy's pretty cool: the design reminds me of (now this is weird) Mortal Kombat, Raziel (from Soul Reaver), and a Haz-Mat suit.
If you feel you're in a rut...maybe start off with a b/w/grey line drawing with shading, then throw the color over; that'll give things like his tube more form, and maybe help you ... feel more contrast? ...(blink)
...
Or maybe start working with more drastic color differences: you're like me, you like to stick to kinda monochromatic schemes (blue-bluegreen-grey) ... maybe throwing in an accent complementary color will help.