WIP March book cover composition. Critiques welcome.

[Susan Marks]

@Aleksey I like this so much better (or yes, subsequent drafts make a difference). Now the shadow reads much better to me and enhances the image rather than making my mind say "what?"
I love the texture in the background, and how it also shadows the stone wall of the pond into the water.
So, your main focal points (frog, lily pad, pond water) are in a different color palate (much more primary colors) and are without texture. This works for me in the sense of contrast, but I'd like some kind of texture in the focal points so that they seem as cared for as the background. I could see "bubbles"-some kind of roundish texture in the pond. Maybe something subtle on the frog body.
I see that others have suggested something similar.
(And I'm one who loves the lines and details like your partner. Woodblocks are among my favorites.)

[ArtofAleksey]

@Susan-Marks thanks! Interesting point i will try to do that without overdoing it. I changed things about a bit and will try to upload an updated version tonight.

[ArtofAleksey]

@Susan-Marks blorg ok I think this color palette matches better (maybe?) I tried to add some texture on the frog but hated it! I also got rid of the tones on the inner side of the bricks and reverse the tones so that it looks like the water is a bit glowy. I’m not very good at colors so this was definitely a struggle. I didn’t wanna overdo the font in the water so I only made the bottom of the font look watery so it’s still separate. Is the crown I. The water saturated enough? Do the colors work better?
Does this look done?

[MichaelaH]

I personally don't like the font so much, I read "bridge" and not "prince" at the first time and the "the" is not readable for me, maybe with partitial black lines it will fit better and be better readable?
But more, I would prefer, if the font goes with the arcs of the pond, not so straight, all your design is about arcs.
Or better, somebody already said it, how would it look with the text above the frog?

[Sas]

@Aleksey This is so beautiful! The frog really stands out and i love how you worked his green little silhouette into the prince. So creative!!!

[Sas]

@Aleksey I say DONE! Love how the font gets extra ripples underneath. It makes it look as if theyre flowing on top of the water. Beautiful work. So much fun to see you develop this piece of art. All the best luck in the competition!

[ArtofAleksey]

@MichaelaH hmm interesting i will try to arc it and see what happens

[MichaelaH]

@Aleksey Maybe only little bit arc and little bit lines? After second look I like it more and more. Also like the bluring of the font in the water

[Erin.Cortese]

@Aleksey The colour of the frog and title are very jarring against the background. When I cover the frog and title and view only the background, it is very peaceful and balanced. I think it is the hue that is the problem.

[ArtofAleksey]

@inkandspatter hue? You mean green? Like is it too bright?

[Erin.Cortese]

@Aleksey I think it is the specific green that you chose, it does not seem to play nicely with the other greens. Your other greens seem a little closer to blue on the colour wheel, where this one I think would be closer to yellow. It could also be the saturation though, the background colours are all very desaturated and the frog and title seem highly saturated. One reason I was thinking hue rather than saturation is because the blue around the edge of the pond is highly saturated but still works beautifully.

[ArtofAleksey]

@inkandspatter yeah i want that contrast between the spaces. I’m trying to make the well and frog feel mystical and out of place from the environment because they’re magical. Im worried its not working

[ArtofAleksey]

I’m comparing the colors on procreate and the jpg I uploaded and the colors are weird and different on the jpgs, I’m gonna try the png let me know if the colors look different to you guys, I feel like I’m seeing things
PNG:

JPG:

[Erin.Cortese]

@Aleksey Maybe you could get that effect with high contrast lighting rather than high contrast local colours? Wait, I think I see exactly what you are trying to do. The highly saturated greens do not read like they are from lighting, they look as though they are the natural colour of the objects. Maybe you need some softer edges to make it look like a lighting effect?

[Erin.Cortese]

@Aleksey After looking at your drawing again I realized that you don't have any soft edges, so they may look strange to add. Instead maybe you could shift all of the green hues on the frog and title toward blue so they would look like they were picking up colour and light from the pond. Here is a rough example of what I mean...(I added some blue to the surrounding grass too)

[ArtofAleksey]

@inkandspatter hmm ok ty ill play around with it a bit more.

[ArtofAleksey]

@inkandspatter ok I think I figured it out, what do you think of this? You all were right there was a lot of yellow in various parts of it not just the plants and frog.

[Erin.Cortese]

@Aleksey Yes, it definitely ties in much nicer!

[ArtofAleksey]

@inkandspatter whew ok. I think I’m done with this.

[Erin.Cortese]

@Aleksey I know that feeling! Great work, a lot of beautiful detail!