Mermaid

[kbArt]

I agree that in the first image it is very hard to tell that the skull is meant to be the center of attention. i was actually surprised upon reading that its discovery was the story... so yes, the third image shows that much more clearly. i would, however, try to improve it more. for example as mentioned above by including elements to lead the eye towards the skull. you can of course make it stand out much more as well when you get to the rendering stage, but it's important to make these adjustments first. the rendering stage is just to intensify that focus if you want to.