Tag Archives: Stephanie Flint

April 8, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Murder In Her Mind

This is a cover for Melange Books. For this cover, I wanted to retain the series appearance of the previous two books (Murder in her Dreams and Murder in the Cards) while still focusing on the symbolism in this particular book. Based on the prompt from the author, I searched out the resulting images from Dreamstime, then blended them together to create a surreal image that would work as the cover. This is an example of using texturing to enhance a picture, while still making sure that the main images are individually distinguishable. This is the result:

SBibb - Murder In Her Mind - Back of Book Cover

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-swirly-grunge-image7347354
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-crows-flying-image1181651
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-raven-dance-image1850963
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-swirly-grunge-image6807470
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-image-mystical-face-image11042411
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-cliffs-moher-under-cloudy-sky-ireland-image18387274

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, cover art, Melange Books, Murder in her Mind, Nell DuVall, photomanipulation, SBibb, SBibb's Photographic Illustration, Stephanie Flint, stock art in book covers, surreal cover design

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

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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 25, 2015 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Finding Clara

This is a cover for Melange Books. In this case, the author wanted to show the main character looking into a mirror and seeing a different aspect of their life, other than what they felt. In order to portray both scenes, I looked for stock images where there were multiple images of the model to choose from, both from the back, and from the front. Though the clothing is different, I tried to choose a less obvious difference, as well as placement which would draw less attention to the outfit, and instead focus on the concept of the two different “lives.”

On a technical note, when I usually complete a near-final cover, I use auto-align to get the rough size and position for full-sized stock images based on the proof cover. Lots of layers are typically involved. Every once in a while, however, something doesn’t want to work quite right. In this case, I had a smart object (very useful for maintaining the original size of images and grouping clusters together) decide it didn’t want to be edited. No idea why the layer locked, but with a little bit of searching, I found this link: https://forums.adobe.com/message/1870944

The post of use for this situation suggested to right click the smart object layer that refuses to be edited, open up the resulting menu, then export contents. Save that as a separately named file, and when you reopen the file, it opens as the smart object you were trying to open. Quite handy, I thought.

This is the final result, including the back cover I created for it:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-beautiful-woman-smiling-image15889714
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-victorian-mirror-image12415487
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photography-man-leaning-country-gate-image21409557
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-beautiful-woman-necklace-looking-image17998425
http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-drive-autumn-woods-thanksgiving-day-image46328634

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, cover design, Finding Clara, Jannie Lund, Melange Books, photographic illustration, photoshop CS6, romance novel, SBibb, smart objects, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint

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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

December 3, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – For the Love of Ruthie

This is a cover for Melange Books.

For this cover, I wanted to portray a happy, light-hearted tone, so I used bright, vivid colors. I also used a font with a swirly influence to give the title and author name a fun, romantic feel. The pig is Ruthie, so I gave it a prominent place on the cover. The text I wrapped around the couple in the scene so that the faces remained clear. The author requested that there also be a cat and tri-colored basset hound pup on the cover, so I included them near the couple’s feet.

Once the concept was approved, I blended the full-sized stock images together (using multiple layers and masking, and retouching the background between layers).

This is the result:

Stock images from Dreamstime:

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photography-young-couple-standing-over-white-background-image37973502
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-cute-basset-puppy-image23115808
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photos-pink-pot-bellied-pig-image29172888
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-image-abandoned-wooden-farm-house-image23179806
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-cat-yawning-image19233539

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Filed under Book Covers, Client Work, Photo Illustration

Tagged as book cover design, book covers, creating a fun romance cover, farm romance, For the Love of Ruthie, Melange Books, photographic illustration, romance novel, SBibb, Stephanie Bibb, Stephanie Flint, Tenaya E. Jacob

November 26, 2014 · 7:00 am

Behind the Scenes – Tangled Roots

This is a cover for Rebekkah Ford. I’ve created the cover for her Beyond the Eyes trilogy, and this is a New Adult companion novel. Unlike the previous covers, this one uses primarily stock images. We tinkered a lot with finding the right font for the book. I also played a lot with creating the right mood for the cover. I ended up finding a decent tutorial on how to turn a day shot into night (see the end of the post for a link). I also used a bit of digital illustration to get everything blended right and to add the roots around the girl on the cover.