My 1st draft koi book cover, what do you think?

[lildude]

Quote: Originally Posted by Seefdro Tvneik If your going to keep the eyes........I would suggest tweaking the shape/size or the placement of the eye(s). The eyes as you have it now are cartoonie....

Yes I will be sure to tweak the eyes for you, Input is greatly appreciated.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by lildude Hmm thanks for all of the comments on the book cover, maybe this toshio sakai seminar will help me in writing the book.

Lildude, I think the Toshio Sakai seminar will do you a lot of good. I do hope you will attend.

[koifishgirl]

I like the last picture post and a koi on the book cover would be nice.

Merry Christmas everyone.

[Eugeneg]

Quote: Originally Posted by lildude I spent a lot of time doing this, I just want to know what you all think. Please let me know, what is wrong, what is good? its a bit distorted because of the tranformation I have 3 1st draft covers.

First of all let us look at composition ; There are only 5 types of composition
1 Left to right
2 Right to left or known as Arabic
3 The v
4 The S
5 The L
All composition if it exsists will fall into these
When we say left to right it generally means from the bottom left to top rigjht hand corner .
All 3 of your draft covers fall into the left to right category which is good
If you let your eye look from left to right you will see that no 3 is the most pleasing to the eye . You could further improve no 3 by eliminating the right angle black and start with a curve at the corner .
It sometimes helps if you squint when looking at a composition .
I have studied composition with Frank Kristian who was the head judge of major art shows as well as being chief judge for the PPA .
I practice professional photography to pay for my koi hobby
www.eugenephotog.com

[kingkong]

Great advice Eugene. Just looking back at layout, I think it would be neat if the white negative space in the middle of black and red amebas, formed an outline or silhouette, if you will, of a koi, in the abstract sense. You almost have it there.

[lildude]

Quote: Originally Posted by Russell Peters Lildude, I think the Toshio Sakai seminar will do you a lot of good. I do hope you will attend.

I hope so too!

[lildude]

Quote: Originally Posted by kingkong Great advice Eugene. Just looking back at layout, I think it would be neat if the white negative space in the middle of black and red amebas, formed an outline or silhouette, if you will, of a koi, in the abstract sense. You almost have it there.

So losing the eyes will still preserve the intended koi look?

[Seefdro Tvneik]

I like the color/design you have......I think it will be difficult to make the eyes work....It's possible , but difficult......

Heres a thought, It may be a nice visual if you could make a outlined image of a koi swiming within your design. For example you can make a red koi with no detail swiming in the black area of the design. OR vice versa. I think your design would work with the contrast of the koi. Try a few different koi shapes and perhaps add a little detail to the koi if it suits the aesthetics. ALTHOUGH KEEP IN MIND if you add a koi with too much detail I think it would work against the simplicity of the design. I also think the koi should be swiming in a downward direction (MAYBE NOT). If this is the only problem your having with the book, consider yourself blessed, this is a good/fun problem to have.

[Seefdro Tvneik]

One more thing......You might only need to add one. BUT if you want more, I would not add more than three (I think that would be too much).

[kingkong]

Something like this is what I was trying to explain.