Sheridan Bronson, Assignment 2-- Family Quote cross stitch

Alrighty. So. Uh, here it is. I cross stitched the real thing, just adjusted the lighting and some minor colors in photoshop. This is a quote from my grandma that I decided I needed to do something with. I have several versions of the frame, as shown below. I'm not sure which is best, though I'm leaning toward the first two.

Mckinsey Lewis assignment 2

sketch

This is the basic drawing on my board - the only thing missing are some details. Anyone have any suggestions on how I can improve this before I start inking? I'm thinking of doing a black gradient wash as a background and masking off the fox/other shapes.  I will probably have it darkest at the bottom to make the fox pop and fade it up a little towards the top.  Then I will add inked line work 

Colt Bowden SLCC poster mock ups

Ok, so for assignment 2 I ended up getting a call back from the Richter 7 guys to do the SLCC poster. Since I am partial alumni to SLCC (1 semester and some high school college credit there.. woot! )  It was a fun one. They had a very open range of what they could do, and we ended up going with a loose fun and zany look.  I haven't drawn eyeballs bulging out of a face in a verrrrrrrry long time... so it was gratifying to have fun with this one.

There still may be some different treatments to the background, I'm still waiting to hear back on the final say, but this is what we have so far >>