The Last 40 Days Cover

The Last 40 Days is about a man who travels back in time & ends up witnessing the Crucifixion. I initially did a bit of research to find out what the landscape looked like back then, and found that it was a lot different that it is today. Technically there should be an abundance of trees, shrubs & plants in the background but I was limited on what stock to use & C L really wanted sand dunes. He really likes the way it come out, so I'm glad. The whole time I was working on this, all I could think about was Life of Brian. I even played 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' for some inspiration.

The hardest past was deciding on using either a physical time machine or or use a portal. C L wanted the Stargate...which, as you can guess, isn't going to happen. It would have looked really cool, but I have no desire to see the inside of a jail cell. I looked around for weeks trying to find something use use as a base but came up empty handed. So, I started looking for portals. Typing in 'portal' in dA gave me a wide range of results, from Portal game/logo pics to several misplaced photos of penises (don't ask). Eventually, I stumbled across the one I used. I added in the lines to give it a little more action & depth.


Update 1 - C L decided he wanted the dash out of MP1. I also added in a shadow for the man, which I realized I had forgotten.


Kindle Link: Coming Soon

C L Smothers Site



Stock Used:

Background - greenleaf-stock.deviantart.com… & shiama-stock.deviantart.com/ar…

Sunset - mgb-stock.deviantart.com/art/S…

Man - mindsqueezedesign.deviantart.c…

Crosses - hand drawn by me

Scrub Grass - wolverine041269.deviantart.com…

Time Portal - stock7000.deviantart.com/art/T… & freshemedia.deviantart.com/art…

Font - Cimbrian & Roman S

Living with Dead Folks Vol. 1 Cover

This was a fun cover to do since I finally got to put Trana on the cover of one of her books. This book is basically all of her blog post for last year, and she will do a new one each year will all the collected posts. The general theme for the covers will be candid shots of her doing stuff around the house while the ghosts do whatever in the background.

For this one, we used her office. After taking the screen off & opening the window directly behind her desk, I stood up on a step-stool and took pictures of her looking from side to side. I would have liked to shoot a bit higher but couldn't due to the window. Plus, a few of the pictures came out a little blurred. I still have trouble putting a lot of weight on my knee from time to time, and I was extra nervous standing up on something (last think I need is to fall and mess my knee up again). The overall image ended up being a merge of three, and I had to draw in part of the wall, ceiling, computer monitor & door.


Kindle

T.M. Simmons:  Website & Facebook

 
Stock Used

Background, Foreground & Trana - Photographs taken by me

Ghost

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume V Cover

This one took me a few tries to get it going. Originally, I was going to use a photo of the actual house talked about in the 'Hell House' chapter. The photo was taken years before digital cameras came out and got really messed up every time I tried to adjust the brightness. So after some searching, I found a house that looked very similar and when from there. The shadow person is the same that is used for the team logo, but just in white. I used a few layers of fog brushes for the mist set at 40% to 50% opacity, then erased them down from that at about 42% opacity. That way it lost most of the detail to look like a very light mist. I also painted in the treeline in the background.


Kindle
T.M. Simmons: Website [link] & Facebook [link]



Stock Used

House - [link]

Sky - [link]

Grass - [link]

Lightning - ObsidianDawn.com [link] (bought commercial license)

Treeline (in background) - [link] & [link]

Additional scrub around the house - [link]

Fence post - [link]

Barbwire - [link]

'No Trespassing' sign - [link]

Mist - [link]

Shadow person - [link]

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

SRT Logo Design

Logo commission for Supernatural Researchers of Texas, a ghost hunting group that I'm a member of. The main logo is being used for things like business cards, car magnets & the like and is primarily printed on a white background. The t-shirt logo will only be used for t-shirts (unless something comes up). Since it will only be printed on purple shirts, I've added purple to the background so that you can see what it will look like.

Stock Used:

K-II - hand drawn by me (using own K-II as a reference)
Shadow Person - [link]
Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume II Cover

A slight redesign of T.M. Simmons' Ghost Hunting Diary Volume II cover. Trana did the original version herself and decided that it needed to be updated along with the rest. The original is still up on Amazon if you want to see it.

I took the original image and centered it, then added a brighter sky & clouds after adjusting the colors/brightness/contrast. I also used a different font as well.


Kindle Link: [link]

T.M. Simmons: Website [link] & Facebook [link]


Stock Used:

Background - Photo credit T.M. Simmons (provided by T.M. Simmons)

Cloud - [link]

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

Forever Angels Cover V. 2

The original cover was just the background image. I added in the couple and didn't have to do a whole lot editing to them. I added facial & body hair to the guy, but you can't see most of it. I also added in some wrinkles to make him a bit older, as well as some grey hairs on his sideburns.


Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Angels-ebook/dp/B006LD1XYC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354997924&sr=8-2&keywords=forever+angels

Trana Mae Simmons: Website http://www.tranamaesimmons.com & Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001080912099


Stock Used

Background - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Couple - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Body/Facial Hair - http://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27688-0

Wrinkle Tutorial - http://www.photoshoplab.com/aging-people.html

Font - Pristina

Mountain Magic Cover V. 2

Updated cover for Mountain Magic.

I removed a tattoo on the guy's shoulder & added various bits of body/facial hair. I redid the woman's hair and also extended the vest down to cover her middle.


Kindle Link: [link]

T.M. Simmons: Website [link] & Facebook [link]


Stock Used:

Mountain - [link]

Man - Hot Damn Stock (privided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Woman - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Hair - [link] & [link]

Chest Hair - [link]

Font - Pristina

Montana Surrender Cover V. 2

Well, the first version I did proved to be a little too hot. So I did a toned down version.

I didn't have to do too much with the guy except some body and facial hair. I also removed a tribal armband tattoo on his arm. The only thing I really changed on the woman was the hair. I wanted to cover up her mid-drift but nothing really worked.


Kindle

Trana Mae Simmons: Website & Facebook

Stock Used:

Couple - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Background - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Hair - redheadstock  & vaia

Chest Hair - http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27688-0

Font - Pristina

Woefully Behind Again

FenCon was awesome, and I had a great time.  I've been working on some more book cover since & will have a ton of stuff to update once I get a chance.  Things my mom blog have picked up since it's Christmas so I've been testing a ton of products and writing reviews.

I'm going to try to get a few updates up tonight.  I'm on my laptop so I don't have all the files handy to get them all up..but I think I should be able to get most of them up.

Updates

I have been completely flooded with cover commissions the past several months.  I recently moved Misadvmom.com over to DreamHost & have been behind with stuff over there as well.

I have a bunch of stuff that needs to get up here, but it may still be a while before I have to chance to work on it.  I will try to have the site completely updated by the time FenCon rolls around. 

Also, I'm just about ready for the Silent Prey cover shoot, and I will be livestreaming it.

FenCon 2013

I will have a table setup at FenCon on October 5th, from 12 - 2 pm.  I will be sharing it with TM Simmons.

I will be selling stock packs, taking book cover commissions, & have several prints for sale.  Here's a quick list of the prints I will have:

• Rockport, TX - Pelican: 16x20 canvas; Price TBD
• FWSY 3 -- Cowboy 1: 12x18 canvas; Price TBD 
• Rockport, TX - Boat 1: Framed Photo (possibly in art auction)
• Wild #1: Framed Photo

I'll be updating the list as I go.  I'm still deciding what to take.  I will be at the convention the while weekend, so if you miss me at the table you should be able to find me wandering around.

Updates

I've had a lot going on lately so I'm way behind on getting stuff up here.  There are several new book covers & a website,  as well as some logo commissions.  I'll try to get them up later this week.

Current Commissions

• Silent Prey by T.M. Simmons - ???; still in early phase 
• Untitled Beckham Hotel Book by T.M. Simmons & Various Authors (full cover)
  
• Wanda by CL Smothers
• The Last 40 Days by CL Smothers

Commissions & Updates

I had to go in for knee surgery on the 3rd, so I've had to put all work on hold this month.  I'm currently staying at my parents house due to the fact that I can't get up the steps to get into my own.  I should be heading home sometime this coming Sunday.  Once home, I will be focusing mainly on C L's webpage so that I can get that one done first.  I not sure which romances I'll be working on for Trana yet & Grave Yarns will only take me a little bit to redo.  I also have another stock pack to get up as well.

Current Commissions

• Grave Yarns by T.M. Simmons (redesign)
• Silent Prey by T.M. Simmons (no set start date)
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• Web Page for C L Smothers
• background
• buttons
• banner
• images scanned
• 3 pages (including index)

Misc Stuff

• Supernatural Art (dA group) Secret Santa -- Horror/Marcarbe/PM poster
• Screener's Poster Exchange -- maybe

Pic from FenCon 2012

Although I wasn't able to be at FenCon in person, a bunch of my stuff was.  My friend Amanda got a picture of our table that was set up on Friday from 4 to 5pm.  Next year we are going to get the table for a few hours on Saturday since the majority of the people attending will be there then.

I got the covers prited at Walmart for about $19 total.  It should have been way more due to the fact that they ended up printing them on canvas (CANVAS!!!!!) because they were out of the regular poster paper.  They looked great.  I'll get a better pic of them a little later and put it up.

Trana w/ her books & my posters.

Neil

Neil Armstrong
August 5, 1930 - August 25, 2012

The first man to walk on the moon.  A true hero.


Stock Used:
Moon - oblivionmasquerade
Stars - kuschelirmel
Font - OptimusPrinceps SemiBold

Dead Man Hand Cover

Who would have thought that they would ever see an elk playing poker?  This one was super fun to do since I made almost all the stock used. 

Special thanks goes out to Carls & Amanda for letting me borrow their poker set, and to Trana for bringing over the whiskey bottles.

Available: Kindle
T.M. Simmons: Website  & Facebook

Stock Used:
Skeleton - twins72-stocks
Elk - gsdark-stock
Table, cards & poker chips - The Poker Pack Exclusive Stock Pack   dA | Blog
Bottles - Jack Daniel's Bottles Stock Pack   dA | Blog
Stools - hand drawn by me
Font - BONES

MP-1 Cover

CL told me it need to have a planet with two moons, & everything else was up to me.  I love it when I can go crazy on covers.  I used the same nebula & font from the first cover to keep up with the sort-of theme.  The hardest part overall was finding the flares.  I saw several good packs with PNG files but were way too expensive.  The pack I went with were on a black background, so I edied out as much as I could and screened them.  After adjusting the brightness/contrast a bit, everything blended right in.

There are a total of three flares layered at various opacities (is that even a word?).  I was going for a light effect where you would be seeing the light washing over the view-port/screen upon entering the atmosphere or on approaching the planet.  It also (unintentionally) gave it a bit of a 3D effect.
The moons are also the same moon, just reversed with altered color and added shadows.

Kindle Link - Coming Soon

Stock Used:
Planet - : superiorgamer
Flares - hakeryk
Moons - theedeonknight
Nebula - ineedfire
Title/Author Font - Super Retro M45

Exclusive Stock - The Poker Pack

This exclusive stock pack was created for the Dead Man Hand cover.

These images are 300dpi PNGs.

This pack is available for use both non-commercial & commercial use for $50. Contact me for info.  Playment can be sent through PayPal.

Stock Pack - Jack Daniel's Bottles

These were taken for use on the Dead Man Hand cover.

These are high quality, 300 dpi PNG files that have not had much editing done to them. Some of the edges are a little rough but can be easily cleaned up.


Download: deviantArt



Rules

For the most part, you can use these for most any project that is non-commercial, as long as you:

• DO NOT redistribute my stock in any way, for profit or not.
• DO NOT use my stock in conjunction with something you found on Google or some other site that is not a valid resource. That is copyright infringement (which is illegal) and I will not be associated with it.
• DO NOT use my stock for anything promoting hatred, prejudice, or showing animal cruelty.
• DO NOT use any of my stock for pornographic or fetish work.
• DO NOT use my stock to create more stock.


For commercial use, you must pay $20 and cover or edit out all Jack Daniels logos/info (due to copyright reasons). I would also like to see the work before you post it so that I can verify you covered all logos/info. If you don’t do this and I find it on a commercial project (print, cover, ect…), then I will take action.  Payment can be sent through PayPal.

A full copy of the rules is included in the pack.

Display Photo Book for FenCon

I'm hoping to attend FenCon IX this year so that I can do some promoting for my cover designs.  I'll be printing out some poster size copies of a few of my covers as well as setting out some business cards.  I will also have the below book created on Shutterfly so display some of my stuff as well.  I'll be sharing a table with T.M. Simmons, but if I'm not able to be in attendance then it will be just her with some of my stuff.

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterflys award-winning photo books. Try it today.

Exclusive Stock - Cemetery Pack 1

This stock was created exclusively for the Ghost Hunting Diary Volume IV (by T.M. Simmons) book cover. Photos were taken at Dry Creek Cemetary in Poetry, TX over the course of two trips (a week apart).  This pack includes all seven stock images used to create the cover.


Since this is an exclusive stock, it will not be available for download on deviantArt.  Due to the time and effort it took to go out an get these pictures there will be a one-time purchase fee of $50, payable through PayPal, to use these images.  You will be alowed to use them for personal or commercial use as long as you follow the Usage Agreement Guidlines (included in the pack).

If you are interested in purchase, please contact me.

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume IV Cover

I went out and took stock pictures at Dry Creek Cemetery so that I wouldn't have to hunt all over for stock this time around. 

Kindle Link: Coming Soon
T.M. Simmons: Website   &  Facebook

Stock Used
Background & Tombstones - policegirl01
Building - cyborgsuzystock
Grass - fairiegoodmother
Font - OptimusPrinceps

Current Projects/Commissions/Contests

Here is a current list of what I'm working on.

Commissions

• Book Cover - Dead Man Hand by T.M. Simmons
• Book Cover - GHD Vol 1 by T.M. Simmons (redesign)
• Book Cover - GHD Vol 2 by T.M. Simmons (redesign) (on hold)
• Book Cover - GHD Vol 4 by T.M. Simmons
• Book Cover - TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• Book Cover - MP-1 by C.L. Smothers

Contests

• Epic Movie Poster Contest 2012

EDIT - Updated 10/28

Fourth of July Fireworks @ Terrell, TX

Fourth of July Fireworks Show @ Ben Gill Park in Terrell, TX

Print Available on: deviantArt

Montana Surrender Cover v.2

This is the new cover for Montana Surrender, a romance novel by Tran mae Simmons.  Like the original Bittersweet Promises cover, this one was only the background image to start.  Trana wanted something attention grabbing and spicy, and I think I pulled it off.

The guy, or really body in this case, didn't need much done.  I added on some hair on both the chest and arm.  The woman, on the other had, had a lot of work done.  First, I had to move the corsett up a bit and then paint out the black & white tube top.  Then I darkend her hair, then added in fallway locks on both sides.  Next, I added in the eyelashes then adjusted her overall skin tone.  The last bit I did was to extend the grass down in the background a bit so that the tree sat a little higher.

On a funnier note, I've noticed that this one seems to be a little too hot for many of the groups on dA.  It's been accepted then removed from three so far.

Kindle - Amazon
Trana Mae Simmons: Website & Facebook


Stock Used:
Man - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)
Woman - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)
Background - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)
Hair - lpdragonfly Set 1, Set 2 & Set 3
Body Hair - CreativeMac
Eyelashes - redheadstock
Font - Pristina

Bittersweet Promises Cover v.2

This is the revamp of the Bittersweet Promises cover.  The original version of the cover only had the background image and title/author text, and was done quick since she had to get the book up with a limited amount of time. 

For the most part, there wasn't a lot to be done with this one except some clean up.  I added in facial and body hair on the man and evened out the woman's skin tone.  The hardest part was making the sweat.  I'm not overly satisfied with it, but I'm hoping to go back at a later date and fix it.

Kindle - Amazon

Trana Mae Simmons: Website & Facebook


Stock Used:
Couple - HotDamnStock  (provided by Trana Simmons)
Background - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)
Stubble - galagraphia
Body Hair - CreativeMac
Sweat - PlanetPhotoShop - Beads with Sweat Effect tutorial & RetouchPro - Sweat tutorial
Font - Chancery Cursive

The Wormhole Project Cover

The finished cover for the upcoming science fiction release of The Wormhole Project by CL Smothers.  This one was fun, mostly since CL had a very clear idea of what he wanted.  The hardest part was finding good star brushes.  The apple was my own creation, and I was super happy that I got a chance to create my own stock for a change.

Also, the binary code says 'The Wormhole Project', repeated several times.

Kindle Link - Coming Soon


Stock Used:
Apple - policegirl01 (me)
Nebula - ineedfire
Stars - kuschelirmel
Blood drop - dark-dragon-stock
Lines - iz-person
Leaf - thepurpleyard-stock
Fonts - Super Retro M45 (title/author) & Shruti MS Font (binary)

dA Portfolio

Several weeks back, I started putting together a portfolio on dA Portfolio.  Right now, I have a few categories up.  A lot of what's in it so far are items I've not posted here on the blog, so it's worth chekcing out.

http://angelarogers.daportfolio.com/

DAC "Supernatural Love Story" Entry

Level 2 entry for Dark Art Challenges "Supernatural Love Story" Theme

Neither would ever be able to move on from this night. The Lady would know only pain and sorrow the rest of her days. The murdered Lord would forever haunt her steps, unable to comfort her while watching her once vibrant being waste away to nothing...a fate worse than death.



Stock Used:
Background - e-dina  **Required Stock **
Man - falln-stock
Woman - mjranum-stock
Roses - e-dina