Here are a few ideas for an icon of John the Baptist. We could base the icon for you on this kind of style - both are Russian, the one on the left is from the 16th century (Russian - Moscow School) and the one on the right is a 17th century icon - a detail of the winged figure below.
Examples of background colour in icons we have recently made - on the left is a gilded background (gold leaf), and the angel on the right is a more matt gold colour, obtained with paint.