Tag Archives: cover art

April 1, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – The Witch and the Hairbrush

A cover for Melange Books. For this cover, the author requested an illustrated look, similar to what I created for Screw The Devil’s Daquiri ( https://sbibb.wordpress.com/2014/07/23/behind-the-scenes-screw-the-devils-daiquiri/ ). In order to achieve the effects we wanted, I used stock images. However, I also used quite a few filters and blur effects from Photoshop CS6. These effects can be quite useful when placed in different blending modes, partially masked, and/or at varying levels of opacity. Another trick I used was to put a heavier emphasis of illustration on the background, while only partially applying the filters to the skin and face of the model.

This is the final result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-small-croatian-village-image14193196

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-portrait-woman-sitting-playing-piano-black-dress-concept-music-art-image34582905

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-witches-broom-image14974800

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-two-witches-image27339945

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-flying-witch-image26918313

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, cover art, illustrated cover art, nick s. howard, photographic illustration, photoshop CS6, photoshop filters, SBibb, SBibb's Photographic Illustration, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, stock images, the witch and the hairbrush

March 18, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Separate Lives

This is a cover for Melange Books. For this cover, the author requested that we create a template for the cover which could be used for future books in the series. After some tweaking, I settled on a frame to border the main image of the cover, along with placing the silhouette of the gavel and the text. It should be fairly easy to duplicate (especially since I keep notes on each layer about any blur effects and such), though we’ll need to purchase another licence for the gavel from Dreamstime for each cover.

Whenever I make proofs, I leave notes for myself in the layers, that way I can easily replicate any special effects I did for the proof on the final. For example, if I used a lens blur on a layer, I’ll make a note that looks something like “51-41-119 Lens Blur” for the name of the layer. Anything that I commonly change, I’ll make a note of. Sometimes the notes get long, and I’ll copy them into Word so I can read them, but the result is that it’s much easier to complete a final image, especially if there’s a month or so between creating a proof and receiving stock images (which happens when creating proofs in advance of a stock subscription purchase).

Anyway, this is the final cover for Separate Lives, by Rhonda Strehlow:

Also, an example of how the basic back cover might look (I set it so that color blur is optional, and they may change the signature to one of their imprints):

SBibb - Separate Lives - Book Cover Back

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-judge-gavel-image16964080
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-texture-creamy-white-rice-paper-torn-edges-isolated-white-background-image29821402
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-table-hotel-bedroom-image27784531
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-business-people-image11661512
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-brown-package-paper-torn-to-reveal-white-panel-ideal-copy-space-image34962594

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as cover art, cover design, design process, layers, Melange Books, photographic illustration, photoshop CS6, Rhonda Strehlow, SBibb, Separate Lives, Stephanie Flint, using stock images

March 11, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Nairobi Bloodstar

This is a cover for Melange Books. In my first proof, I gave this more of a historical movie poster look, but upon learning the book had a bit more of an action-thriller bent, I put more of a focus on the train wreck explosion than the scenery and characters. Still, I added texturing to give the cover the historical feeling, and I played with the coloring (we wanted the red highlights for the ruby). After playing with positioning of the title and the hands with the ruby, this is the final result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-old-stained-paper-texture-beige-image39122645

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-savanna-landscape-africa-amboseli-kenya-image29222114

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-black-hands-pills-two-african-holding-pain-image37001611

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-ruby-polished-slice-image9155467

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-giant-explosion-image11628125

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-train-crash-accident-image43972160

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, book covers, Carole Hall, cover art, explosions on book covers, historical novel, Melange Books, Nairobi Bloodstar, photographic illustration, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, texturing

March 4, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – The French Couple

A cover for Melange Books. For this one, they already had the main art they wanted on the cover, but they wanted the title redone and a few adjustments made in regards to the overall effects. For this one, I mostly played with adding color to the dark halo around the model’s head, and played with the placement and color of the text so that it felt like part of the cover. This is the result:

The publisher provided the image to be used on the cover.

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as adding text to covers, book cover, book cover design, cover art, creating a book cover, Melange Books, Nic Penrake, SBibb, Stephanie Flint, The French Couple

February 25, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Howling Mountain Blues

This is a cover for Barking Rain Press.

For this cover, the third in the Crime Fighting Bluesmen series, we decided to model it after a Blues poster. For that, I stuck with more illustrated effects and textures, and stuck with a limited color scale, rather than the photo-realism I typically go for. I also played with juxtaposition, placing the monkey on top of the harmonica. In order to get the illustrated effect (which came from photos), I masked out the unnecessary portions of the photos, then used the threshold adjustment tool in Photoshop CS6, linked by a clipping mask to the photo, to make it black and white, then copied those layers and deleted out the extra color. I used the magic wand, without contiguous selected so I could make sure I could get all the excess black “paint” out.

This is the result:

Stock images from Shutterstock:

http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-143096134/stock-photo-man-sitting-on-stool-in-dark-room-playing-guitar.html?src=YXC4bJk9QY4AHuec3KmbMw-1-45
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-105812573/stock-photo-m-carbine-isolated-on-a-white-background.html?src=1XhlIKJOIrcMv9LG0tUqiA-1-57
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-128205749/stock-photo-harmonica-isolated-on-white-background.html?src=FkpC4FBCUaA1D1HeIEzIAg-1-1
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-150340748/stock-photo-black-howler-monkey.html?src=FeKPz55ibOJQ8jx5X6aLmg-1-32
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-41437732/stock-photo-the-painted-jungle.html?src=id&ws=1
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-99005135/stock-vector-vector-of-ancient-american-ornaments-on-white.html?src=id&ws=1
http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-125309489/stock-photo-yellow-plastic-guitar-plectrum-isolated-on-white.html?src=DJCaLEQMiXkeNAk2HzB1nw-1-26&ws=1

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as Barking Rain Press, blues poster, book cover design, cover art, Crimes Fighting Bluesmen, Howling Mountain Blues, photographic illustration, photoshop CS6, Ricky Bush, SBibb, Stephanie Flint, threshold adjustment layer

December 17, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Fairy Christmas, Darling

For this cover (Melange Books), I started with a similar concept to the final image here, but different models. To create the characters described on the art form, I originally did quite a bit of piecing various stock images together. But since the publisher wanted to try to stick with stock images they’d already purchased, I took a look through the available options. Turned out we had one that worked quite well, and only used one stock piece instead of… five? I think? There were several.

Sometimes it’s better to go simple.

For the rest of the cover, I worked on blending everything to have a wintery romance feel, and used Christmas textures to add to the feel of the cover and enhance the title. I kept the back and front covers to a similar color scheme, but I changed the position of the texture images to create the back cover.

This is the result:

SBibb - Fairy Christmas Darling Book Cover

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-red-barn-farm-yard-wind-mill-other-buildings-image33905325
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-little-cute-girl-butterfly-wings-adorable-girls-under-blossoming-apple-tree-image40844285
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-magic-wand-image23000346
2380782 – No longer on Dreamstime?
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-gallic-rooster-5-years-old-image14539620
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-simple-rustic-christmas-trees-snow-two-cut-out-wood-standing-front-wooden-wall-falling-snowflakes-festive-image34089609
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-red-christmas-lights-abstract-background-made-material-image32919894

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, Christine Arness, Christmas book cover, cover art, Dreamstime, Fairy Christmas Darling, Melange Books, photoshop blending, romance novels, SBibb, Stephanie Flint, stock images

November 12, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – The Doors

This is a cover for Melange Books.

For this one, I used texture overlay (the mosaic around the edge), as well as scene creation to create the desired stormy atmosphere and remove some of the birds from the original haunted house stock photo. I added in the girl, then at the author’s request, gave her longer hair. There are benefits to finding pictures where the hair is similar in color and goes roughly the desired direction you want it to go.

My original proof for this cover was too dark and gray, looking more like a horror novel than paranormal, so I lightened it a bit with the various blue and green tones to give it the sea/ocean-side feel, while still keeping the stormy atmosphere.

For this blog post, I’ve also included what I did for the back of the book. I usually keep these fairly simple, and in this case, I took part of the stock image that wasn’t used on the front cover to complete the back. That way the atmosphere remained consistent, while offering something a little different to look at. I used the same texture overlays and adjustment modes to keep the covers consistent, and included the publisher’s logo and barcode information on the back. I also include a separate layer with the author name and book title, that way the publisher can adjust for the spine as needed. I also flipped the back cover image so the white clouds act as a line, leading the eye back to the spine, and so that the dark blue mosaic would act as a frame.

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-man-walking-field-towards-haunted-house-scary-dark-atmosphere-image35050105
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-dark-storm-clouds-image2046209
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-calgary-beach-mull-scotland-bay-located-north-west-framed-low-hills-broad-area-machair-grassy-meadow-image42890362
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-beautiful-teenage-girl-outdoors-portrait-jeans-wear-looking-away-image36670484
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-broken-green-wall-tiles-image19929346
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-sad-girl-image22656428

2 Comments

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as Alice J. Black, book cover design, cover art, designing a back cover, designing a book cover, horror, Melange Books, paranormal, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, the Doors, ya, young adult

October 29, 2014 · 8:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Mira’s Hope

This is the cover for the sequel to Mira’s View, from Melange Books.

For this cover, I wanted to keep the same style as the first, with the prominent characters and soft background, as well as the text placement. I added in the snow (see the link at the bottom of this post for the tutorial I referenced) to bring everything together and add extra “oomph.” We experimented with a couple different backgrounds before choosing this one. I also included a second character who plays a large role in the story, and considered bringing in a third character, except that I worried the cover would look busy. I was able to use the same models (Yes, plural. Body and head were different, so as to fit the character description) for the female character, though I did use different stock images of them to help keep the covers varied. It’s the benefit to using Dreamtime’s “Other Stock Images With This Model” link when searching for suitable images. We also included a logline, provided by the author, to help create interest in the story. This is the result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-elf-image37703101
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-portrait-young-beautiful-woman-long-flowin-image24770171
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-old-rusted-broadsword-image24282162

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-snow-winter-wood-image13044892

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-man-long-hair-sword-down-holding-to-his-serious-expression-his-face-image36385946
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-attractive-young-man-long-hair-image23350511

Useful snow tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0-4p_65vxQ

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as cover art, designing book covers, Dreamstime, Erin Elliott, including logline on book cover, Melange Books, Mira's Hope, Mira's View, Other Stock Images With This Model, photographic illustration, SBibb, SBibb's, sequel book covers, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, stock images, wrap-around book cover, wraparound cover, YA covers

October 15, 2014 · 8:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Murder In the Cards

A cover for Melange Books, the sequel to Murder in her Dreams.

For this cover I kept to the same, dreamlike colors and textures as the previous book, only this time with symbolism from the second. I kept the same text placement and fonts (and border style), so series/brand recognition can be easily recognized. I also worked to have a central focus on the cover, while blending the various images so they would seamlessly morph from one image to the next.

This is the end result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-old-grunge-creased-paper-texture-perfect-retro-vintage-background-image30556007
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-teen-witch-tarot-card-image8216840
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-cobra-2-image14695145
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-man-running-work-out-image23320007
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-grunge-background-old-style-rusty-image35967692

Leave a comment

Filed under Book Covers, Client Work

Tagged as book cover design, cover art, Dreamstime, Melange Books, Murder In Her, Murder In the Cards, Nell DuVall, photographic illustration, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint

September 17, 2014 · 8:14 pm

Behind the Scenes – Bluffing Is Murder

This is a cover for Barking Rain Press.

For this one, the publisher wanted to keep the style used on the previous cover in this series. So we stuck to the same cover model, though we did use different pictures of the same model to create this image, since she looked a bit too happy for this cover in most of her summery images. Though I didn’t use the same font, I tried to keep it close. Other than that, I worked to blend the various elements of the cover to create the scene for this mystery novel.