Ink fairy polishing advice?

[Cayleen]

Okay, my private critique group (my kids) is split on which finished version they prefer. Any thoughts? I'm open to suggestions and advice about better value use or composition too!

Thanks!

Which version do you prefer...

'Glowing girl' (my attempt at trying to highlight the girl and fairies more):

Or 'Dark Edge' (trying to heighten the contrast while not fading out the background as much):

Or is there just not enough difference to worry about and I should stop tweaking.... ?

Thank you !

[ambiirae]

@Cayleen I'm leaning towards the bottom one!

[mamadraw]

I would say the bottom one!

[Cayleen]

@ambiirae Great, thanks!

[demotlj]

If I'm not too late to add my opinion, I also vote for the bottom one.

[A Former User]

bottom one but i would get rid of the black soft airbrush borders which i guess should act as some kind of vignette?
its not needed in my opinion.

[Cayleen]

@Molambo I was trying to get more focus going to the centre. The original picture is just one value all over, and I wondered if having a darker border might help define where to look. It's so hard working in just black and white! A good challenge though. Thanks for your thoughts!

[Nyrryl Cadiz]

@Cayleen bottom