Feedback on the Cover Illustrations

James: Well my favorites are 1, 2, 4 and 6. But if you want a final decision, I feel like 1 and 2 are more internal illustrations, rather than covers, and 4 is more of a promotional art piece or something along those lines. I know you think its cheesy, but 6 is my favorite for the cover. It's visually striking, has plenty to draw the eye, and has enough subtext behind it to imply a journey/narrative. Things like that can be considered potentially cheesy for a reason and that's because they're effective. 6 is the cover I'd personally be most inclined to pick up out of them all, however all 4 of the ones I've said would also make me want to read it. Number 6 just has the edge on the rest of them for me.

Alex:  I like the first second and last ones. I like the idea of the scene stretching from front to back. Second one is a super cool angle, more interesting. And the last one I think would look really pretty in your art style!

Ryan: (I'm paraphrasing from feedback here) Second one has a much more interesting angle and is something that is not usually seen from me. I usually do front on portraits. Something like this would be a lot harder to render but would be beneficial in building a folio.

JI Brady:I know absolutely nothing about your project, or the book in question, so I'll just give my thoughts on a purely aesthetic level, coming from a would-be-buyer looking at it on a shelf.

Covers #3, #4 and #5 all fall into the "problem" I find of americanised cover and poster art, which focusses (I feel) entirely too much on throwing a/the character in your face and saying "buy me, because I'm a relatable human you know nothing about".
Not that the actual art or layout is bad, but the focus is entirely on the character, and personally that just makes me switch off because I feel like I know absolutely nothing about the book other than that it includes at least one human.

#6 looks good, as it's of an almost classic kind of cover setting; silhouetted heroes staring at the vast lands and a pretty sunset. But like you say, this might also make it a bit cheesy. Whether that's actually a bad thing or not, I guess is more up to the book. Would a slightly cheesy cover set the wrong tone?

#2 looks fine, as it's exciting and dramatic, but feels a bit clustered to me, and verges on having too much focus on the characters. Where they are isn't quite clear to me (with no context)

#1 is actually my favourite. It shows the characters are there, but also shows what they're up to and sets some tone for the book, if indeed they spend a lot of time doing it. It shows both character and characterization. Also, the way it's drawn sets up some mystique and intrigue in my mind; where are they going, what is this place? The fact that the scene isn't in the book doesn't ring important to me, lots of cover art isn't a direct scene lift

Getting feedback has been really good to help me get some perspective on my cover designs. IN response to my crit. I actually have decided that I think #1 is my favorite cover design. I like the heavy focus on environment and mystery. I think the way the colours compliment each other is really nice too.

BUT.

Keeping in mind that I am at university. That this will be marked, and that I need to develop variety in my portfolio, challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone and develop new techniques. I think that #2 would be the best cover to pursue. 

I never really try perspective or environment drawing and #2 would be the most challenging image to create. It's something completely out of my comfort zone and something I have never done before. I think it would be the most ambitious drawing to attempt. I usually focus on portraiture because it's what I'm most comfortable with. It's also because I want to practice my rendering technique so by drawing something I am already comfortable with I can focus almost entirely on rendering without struggling with the layout/design.
#2 would be something completely different to add to my portfolio and I would need to learn new techniques and skills to produce an image like that.