Similar to a line of action in reduction for animation, consider the "word" itself to be a line of action. When you reduce the idea down, what "word" is conveyed to you? It can be difficult to do this alone and so it is best to reach out and ask others as well. However, by practicing the poetic reduction yourself, you can also feel out what it is that you want to say as well. If the word (or 2 or 3 words) seem to be felt abstractly, then you may be thematically balanced. The theme is what your shapes are arranged to convey and it helps to have this anchoring point throughout the development (thumbnail - render). Here I feel the 3rd piece is best due to it's high contrast and the lower elements are cropped out. Yet I enjoy the silhouette of the 4th. The glow around the character at night is pronouncing it. By using background elements you can push the daytime element to emphasize the character if you wish. As you practice lighting and rendering, this will become easier over time to control. Very good effort! Great job! If the character is meant to be looking upwardly, then visualizing the plane below may divert the attention you are attempting to set the viewer on. By extending the composition to the left you can emphasize the environment they are purveying without having to turn the character around though. I can see this is partly done in 1 and 2, but I would show more of the background and let the foreground be less emphasized to add depth to the world itself. A FAST and dirty way to see what will be seen by the audience is to overlay the grid pattern by thirds in both ways. The natural golden ratio will draw the viewer to any cross point of the lines but that is an over-simplification as well on my part. I enjoy the softness of your clouds and the trees. It feels whimsical and light-hearted in its adventurousness. For a challenge, if you wish to undertake it, consider "secondary action" in animation principles on your next piece. While the character is the focus, adding secondary stories via the birds or environmental storytelling in the tree itself can add more overall depth and cause the viewer to linger on the panel more as they become enveloped in the liveliness of the piece. If you wish to become more iconographic instead, don't include these ideas of secondary action. You an also make a piece more immediately understood without those elements. It depends on how fast you want each area to be looked at. You could even add the secondary action to the character itself by showing history to the items present; the texture of the cloth being pristine or nipped. The lighting itself could be used to contrast or align with the same theme as well. Food for thought as you grow! Keep up the good work!

Hey Cia I wanted to comment on your drawing of your character. The biggest issue is the legs, the don't really make sense and the perspective is odd. I did a quick sketch of your pose to show you what I mean, I hope it helps :)