can you recommend any good services for creating cover art?

or deviant art. You can either find a cover artist or just an artist who will paint you a picture, then you can send it to an editor to turn it into a cover. I have contacted a private freelance editor and she also does covers. You may have some luck with a freelance editor (who you will want to talk to anyways before self-publishing). Basically, for folks who frequently do covers, they have subscriptions to free photo sites and they have the programs to create the art. It's nicer than doing it yourself and they also have the benefit over other artists, of knowing what kinds of covers sell books and look great as thumbnails, too.