Deducing the Composition

My latest project is a cover for The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.

After scribbling down some ideas, I arrived at a composition that reveals the mind of Sherlock in a "down-the-rabbit-hole" fashion. With so many free-floating objects, I thought that the best way to go about it would be to draw the elements separately and then combine them in different ways in Photoshop. Here are three different versions I tried:

 I felt the first had the best balance of negative and positive space. The other two had too much negative space at the top (the black) and more awkwardly clumped positive space (the stuff).

The voice of reason (a.k.a. my sister) suggested I make Sherlock larger and consequently a few other things in the composition changed. Most noticeably I have more objects "flying" out of the border of the image, which helps to distribute the negative space evenly. I also scaled down in size some of the less important objects. The only other thing I can think of changing at this point (other than refining in detail) is the barometer directly behind the text "SHERLOCK HOLMES" and the large billowing folds of the curtain, which should be smaller and multiplied. The large amoeba shape in the upper left will be a hansom (a type of carriage). What I had just wasn't working in that space.

On to the final drawing!