Behind the Scenes – Emma and the Cutting Horse

This is a cover for Melange Books.

For this cover, the author had already received permission to use  a silhouette image from the National Cutting Horse Association, so I used that as my starting point before creating the rest of the cover. In this case, I put more emphasis on the title and surroundings (while I initially had a stable in the background, I switched the image to an arena per the suggestion of the author). Since the book was meant for younger readers, I looked for a font that had a more kids-y feel while still relating to the story.

This is the end result:

Silhouette image used with permission from National Cutting Horse Association.

Other stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-empty-horse-arena-image25648103
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-tall-grass-image15537678
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-field-tall-grass-image11303386