Monochrome drawings

Alongside the main illustrations, I have been requested to also create small drawings which would be placed above the poem. I began to look at the illustrator Chris Riddell and his series of 'Barnaby Grimes' novels. I have read a few of them and recall admiring the front covers. 
I love how the characters come out of the circular windows. It concludes the images easily which saves the singular drawings looking incomplete in the middle of a page. After drawing up my first interpretations, I realised the lion especially looks quite scary. This needs to be resolved. I also want to try them with colour.