Natalie Cone

Have you ever wondered what goes into making a book cover? We were dying to know how the artists made such a tantalizing and deliciously poisoned apple for THE SHADOW QUEEN by C.J. Redwine, so we went behind the scenes with Sean Freeman and Eve Steben (who work under the name There Is) to see just how it was done.

First of all, have you seen this cover? 

Go on, take a closer look:

For a poisoned apple it sure looks delicious!

So where did the idea for the apple come from?

Sean Freeman: “The original idea actually came from the publisher’s art director and the author. They felt a dark and poisonous looking apple was the concept encapsulating best the story. As we have somewhat of a soft spot for type treatments involving food, we immediately jumped into the project.”

Sean and Eve decided to carve the letters into real apples to make sure they got the type to look just right.

Sean Freeman: “For The Shadow Queen artwork, I think it was essential to make the piece by hand: the little imperfections you get by actually carving an apple can only be achieved by actually doing the real thing. That way, you also get total control on every element: the grain texture, the depth, the slightly rounded edges, the peel finish, the oxidation coloring… The appetite appeal you get through photography is really key to the realism of the artwork when you play with food – and this is very hard to achieve through other media.”

First they painted several apples black.

Instead of carving the entire title onto one apple, only a few letters were carved on each apple at a time.

How did all those individual apples become the one iconic apple we see on the cover?

Sean Freeman: “The hero fruit was created with shots from several apples, which we then assembled ‘in post’ – selecting the perfect bits for everything: top, tip, shape, grove, skin texture, etc. Even the leaf was specially hand-picked from a tree to match, while the ink drop was model-made. The idea was to end up with a fruit that the viewer wouldn’t feel the digital work in the piece, and basically just feel like picking and giving a big bite into it – hyper-realistic, round, beautiful, super-fresh and juicy-looking.

“We then tested several paints and finishes for the fruit skin in-camera: [using] different types of condensations [and] formulas to play with the pulp color, and several tools for the carving – a lengthy, experimental styling process that led us to what we felt was the magic combo in terms of look and feel.”

“From there, we established the best ratios for the type to fit onto our apple in a harmonious composition, worked out the optimal scale to maximize the realism and organic details of the lettering – such as the grain of the flesh in the carving. Finally, I designed the type itself, which was then hand-carved, gently sprayed and shot, letter by letter.”

“The post-production phase included stitching up the different apple parts together as well as integrating the lettering and the poison drop, a bit of retouching, and a touch of color grading. Although this sounds quite straightforward, the digital side of things was an overall pretty labor intensive part of the project; which the addition of water droplets made slightly more complex, in the other hand it also filled the fruit with beautiful details which made the piece look much more natural in the end.”

And all of that hard work turned into this gorgeous image!

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine is out now! Get your copy here.  Can’t wait that long? Start reading the first 4 chapters here.