Medieval Fantasy Cover Illustration
Budget: £20 – £250 GBP
Title:
THE OUTCAST KNIGHT
Book One of the Lightspire Saga
Core visual concept:
Foreground:
Silhouette or semi-detailed figure of Fi:
Cloak and battered armour, sword point-down or at her side.
Maybe seen from behind or in three-quarter, looking up at the Spire.
Slightly “smaller than the world” to emphasise outcast vs system.
Midground:
The Lightspire / Eye of Luna:
A tall, luminous spire of stone and crystal, with veins of pale blue/white luminarite.
A circular “Eye” motif near the top or as a halo behind the tower.
Background / sky:
The scorched purple sky with hairline cracks of red/black creeping through.
Suggests “something wrong with the light” immediately.
Colour palette:
Cool blues and silvers for luminarite/light.
Contrasted with sickly purples and blacks in the sky.
Touches of warm gold for the title lettering to make it pop.
Symbol option (for series branding):
A small, simple sigil you can reuse on all covers:
e.g. a stylised eye inside a spire, or a sword over a ring of light.
Place it near the series title “Lightspire” so it becomes recognisable.
“Dark epic fantasy, similar shelf to Brandon Sanderson / Abercrombie. Central image: a lone female knight (Fi) in battered armour looking up at a glowing tower (Lightspire) under a scorched purple sky. Strong contrast between holy blue-white luminarite light and ominous purple/black heavens. Title: THE OUTCAST KNIGHT. Series: Lightspire, Book One. Mood: sacrificial, cathedral-haunted, hopeful but heavy.”
The finished artwork will be used for both print (6 × 9 in. full wrap with spine and simple back-cover continuation) and ebook, so I’ll need layered files (PSD or TIFF) at 300 dpi plus a flattened PNG/JPEG. Please leave room up top for title typography and provide a safe zone guide. Color profile should remain CMYK for print and an RGB version for digital.
THE OUTCAST KNIGHT
Book One of the Lightspire Saga
Core visual concept:
Foreground:
Silhouette or semi-detailed figure of Fi:
Cloak and battered armour, sword point-down or at her side.
Maybe seen from behind or in three-quarter, looking up at the Spire.
Slightly “smaller than the world” to emphasise outcast vs system.
Midground:
The Lightspire / Eye of Luna:
A tall, luminous spire of stone and crystal, with veins of pale blue/white luminarite.
A circular “Eye” motif near the top or as a halo behind the tower.
Background / sky:
The scorched purple sky with hairline cracks of red/black creeping through.
Suggests “something wrong with the light” immediately.
Colour palette:
Cool blues and silvers for luminarite/light.
Contrasted with sickly purples and blacks in the sky.
Touches of warm gold for the title lettering to make it pop.
Symbol option (for series branding):
A small, simple sigil you can reuse on all covers:
e.g. a stylised eye inside a spire, or a sword over a ring of light.
Place it near the series title “Lightspire” so it becomes recognisable.
“Dark epic fantasy, similar shelf to Brandon Sanderson / Abercrombie. Central image: a lone female knight (Fi) in battered armour looking up at a glowing tower (Lightspire) under a scorched purple sky. Strong contrast between holy blue-white luminarite light and ominous purple/black heavens. Title: THE OUTCAST KNIGHT. Series: Lightspire, Book One. Mood: sacrificial, cathedral-haunted, hopeful but heavy.”
The finished artwork will be used for both print (6 × 9 in. full wrap with spine and simple back-cover continuation) and ebook, so I’ll need layered files (PSD or TIFF) at 300 dpi plus a flattened PNG/JPEG. Please leave room up top for title typography and provide a safe zone guide. Color profile should remain CMYK for print and an RGB version for digital.