Book Cover Designer for Dark Slavic Romantasy Novel

I’m looking for a talented book cover designer to create a complete, professional eBook front cover for an upcoming adult dark romantasy novel. Book title: The Arrow and the Ash Series: The Karpatian Chronicles — Book One Genre: Adult dark romantasy / Slavic mythological fantasy Budget: $40 fixed price The story is rooted in pre-Christian Slavic mythology and includes elements connected to Perun, Veles, Mokosh, Morena, and Svarog. The cover should feel dark, mythic, atmospheric, dangerous, and emotionally intense. This is adult romantasy, not YA fantasy and not a sweet fairy-tale romance. Existing visual direction I already have an AI-generated cover concept, which I will attach as a visual reference. The reference shows the general atmosphere and composition I like, but the designer is welcome to improve it, reinterpret it, or propose a stronger visual solution. The final cover should look more polished, intentional, genre-appropriate, and commercially competitive than the attached concept. Main visual direction The cover should include: a dark Carpathian or Slavic mountain landscape; a distant fortress; storm clouds, lightning, mist, drifting ash, and restrained ember light; a fierce female archer as the central character; a dark, powerful male figure standing close beside or slightly behind her; visible romantic and emotional tension without kissing or embracing; subtle Slavic-inspired ornament or mythology; a large, highly readable title; strong readability at Amazon thumbnail size. The female archer should appear capable, controlled, and dangerous—not fragile, glamorous, or like a generic fantasy princess. The male character should feel powerful, restrained, mysterious, and magnetic—not like a modern romance model. Their relationship should suggest attraction, distrust, shared danger, and a sense of fate drawing them together. Preferred colors black; charcoal; silver; muted blue; deep forest green; subtle ember orange. Please avoid generic crowns or floral frames; kissing or embracing couples; glamorous gowns; shirtless male models; large visible dragons; bright YA fantasy colors; fairy wings; generic Viking or Nordic symbols; overly busy composition; typography that disappears at thumbnail size. Required deliverables one complete eBook front cover; JPG and PNG files; minimum size of approximately 1600 × 2560 px; high-resolution file suitable for Amazon KDP; editable layered source file, preferably PSD; title and author name on separate editable layers; up to two reasonable revision rounds; confirmation that all fonts, images, textures, and other assets are cleared for commercial use. The final author name is still being decided, so the author-name layer must remain editable. Use of AI AI-assisted or AI-generated artwork is acceptable, but it must be disclosed clearly. Please state whether you plan to use: original digital illustration; licensed stock images; photo manipulation; AI-generated artwork; or a combination. The final cover must be commercially usable and must not contain unlicensed or copyrighted material. New designers are welcome Talented designers who are new to Upwork or building their fantasy-cover portfolio are welcome to apply. I will evaluate proposals based on portfolio quality, visual judgment, communication, and understanding of the project—not only previous Upwork earnings or reviews. No unpaid custom sample is required. Potential future work If the final cover is strong, there may be additional paid work for: paperback and hardcover wrap design; spine and back cover; audiobook cover; promotional graphics; visual branding for Books Two and Three. When applying, please include Two or three relevant fantasy, dark fantasy, romantasy, or book-cover examples. A short explanation of how you would approach this cover. Whether you will use illustration, stock images, photo manipulation, AI, or a combination. Confirmation that you can provide an editable source file. Confirmation that all included assets will be cleared for commercial use. Your estimated delivery time. Generic proposals that do not mention the book or its visual direction will not be considered.