Corn Maiden Revisited

I created a storyboard based on the legend of the Blue Corn Maiden for the awesome Wik 10. At Wik 10, Kerry Martin presented an extremely insightful workshop that covered story boarding and the process a picturebook dummy goes through on its way to publication. At the end of our workshop Kerry suggested that everyone use the information we had gleaned to finish three of the Corn Maiden images as part of our illustration portfolio. I could see the wisdom in her words. So now I am doing just that.

I would love your input regarding composition and how to make figures not feel stiff. I have posted the original sketch with a simple parallel pueblo in the background. I have also posted the same drawing with a more detailed photo of a pueblo in the background which runs at an angle to the fore ground image. Which of these compositions do you feel is stronger? Working with Mark Brought pre portfolio day I realized that sometimes I neglect the composition orchestration and race straight to the fun painting part. I appreciate y'alls assistance with my continued investigation into figure and composition. I would also welcome any other input you have. We often don't know what we don't know. Thanks for being another set of eyes. Cheers! Lauren j. Patton www.LjPatton.com