Book Cover: Need Feed Back

[Tao 7,808]

So I'm writing my first MLP Story!  Its a bit

of a one super long one shot but the main

cannons are Shy and Tia and no

its not a pairing or romance or

any thing like that!   Its mostly

about finding friendship and someone who

can under stand you.  So instead of

using someones art or requestiong I made

a book cover!  Just need some

simple feed back and all...

 

[SFyr 1,982]

It looks fairly simple is my overview--while good in its own right, it comes off as a little too barren to me. 

There doesn't really seem to be a strong central point for the eye to go to, and there's a lot of negative space. The butterfly and the sun both seem to vie for being the most 'living' focus of the image, but both also seem quite weak too, as they come across as background (or middleground) elements.

 

I like that it's in vector/gradient form, and looks very pretty in how it was done and how it fits one of the more canon art styles of MLP, but it still looks too open to me as is.

I think it would benefit from having something in terms of proper foreground, and a pathway for the eye to follow if you can manage to create something that fits (if not, it's a suggestion not a break-all need).

Looking at almost any good image, you'll find contours and implied lines that lead the eye around the image. Eyes that draw you to a face. Places that look more detailed and self-interact that also draw the eye while fitting in among more open spaces to balance it out.

 

I want to stress again that what elements here are quite pretty and well done (I especially like the sun), but the composition could be better in my opinion. If you can balance what I've mentioned (maybe include a BBBFF style pony?), I think it would make for a much more solid cover image.

 

 

 

 

Also, I'm not accounting for added text. If that's your goal, you may need to include something of the like in order to account for how the image is balanced as a whole. 

I apologize if my evaluation comes off bluntly at any point. I just wanted to be a little bit thorough because people 'do' judge things by their covers--so I wanted to contribute what I could.

I can also pull a few examples if need be, but I'm only an amateur when it comes to proper art.