That’s true. What of you used it just/mostly outlined, fully black? Like the owlbear is coming out of dense woods and behind it is a bunch of bushes that aren’t being lit because there are big trees shadowing them. That would pull the eye towards the lit bear.
You could use tropical foliage, for its distinctive features. Like adding a few leaves like that in the outline or even not completely blacked out would transport the viewer to a dense, impenetrable jungle.


















Economy is more religion than science, I agree. Also the GDP is a terrible indicator for how well a society is doing.