Composition feedback please!

#1

Hi all,

Would love some feedback on the composition for this piece. This is just a rough compositional sketch but I’d really appreciate any suggestions on placement/etc.! It’s eventually going to be a part of a book cover design. Not actually for a real book, just for my portfolio :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
I’m having a particularly hard time framing the left side, I have the tree I added in after I scanned it but I’m not super sold on it…

(also the sun in the upper right isnt for the final it’s just a lighting reminder for myself… haha.)

Anyway I’d love some feedback! I’ll gladly return the favor if you wanna link me to your thread/ or anything you’d like a crit on!

#2

The perspective is off on the poles of the fence, you’re going to need to demarcate a vanishing point and rework your composition off of it.

#3

If it’ll be a book cover you need to work in the dimensions of the cover already. Otherwise you’ll need to fix the composition when you change it.

When it comes to covers it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the thumbnail version. Books are seen from afar on bookshelves, ebooks are presented as thumbnails on online stores. You want to make it interesting. You’ll also need to take the placement of the title and author name into account.

How you’ll color it, the lines you’ll keep or paint over will affect the final composition. Right now I have no problem with the tree at the side. The fence and the fox point to the right, until the fox’s head and the fence gap bring my eyes to the crow, your current focal point. The tree is nothing but noise, just there to not let this side become too empty, but without enough presence to distract me from the focal point. I’d probably give it a lighter bark and some leaves, making it more bushy to match the flowers, and place part of it outside the frame so it looks more like a wider scene. Something carefully framed reminds me more of greeting cards than book covers (unless it’s a children’s book).

It looks adorable, by the way.