Chris Stepien is the author of Three Days: The Search for the Boy Messiah, a Biblical novel about pre-teen Jesus. Bible studies, spiritual exercises, and praying the Rosary inspired Stepien, and his humble love of God and passion for visual storytelling helped shape his account of the boy Messiah and his Passover pilgrimage.

I was art director for this project and was responsible for the rounds of edits from concept to completion. The creative brief called for this cover to move the reader to curiosity about this story that is so often pondered by Christians everywhere. This gospel story leaves so much to the imagination. Thus, an imaginative visual must match the creative, fictional writing Stepien offers to help bridge the gap in our wandering imaginations.

Many different ideas were brought forth during the brainstorming process and the rounds of cover comps. However I wanted to focus on the idea of "searching" throughout ancient Jerusalem. The illustration on the final cover is layered, simulating hills or many miles searched to find the lost Messiah. The color palette was inspired by images of ancient middle eastern artifacts to bring viewers back to this time, this area, where the mysterious biblical story took place.