I dont seem to be able to create interesting crust features like ears
on the bread I bake. I love how this looks in the artisanal bread I
buy, and I want to recreate it at home. Can someone tell me how?

Ive done some shopping for a bread book that speaks at length about
crust features, and I havent found one yet. Does anyone have a
suggestion to offer?

In some cases I want to produce bread with a thick top crust. by
adding a steam pan and spraying the sides of my oven, I can produce
bread that comes out of the oven with a very pleasing bit of thin
crunchyness to the crust, but that disappears after half a day or so.
Thank you!