The Fall - SPN_J2 BB art master post

[amberdreams]

The first of my two spn_j2_bigbang artings - huzzah! A multitude of thanks to the phenomenon that is wendy for organising this challenge once again.

This fic, wriitten by the lovely enderberlyn, gives us an interesting twist on the Darkness, and a different version of Season 11. It was a cool story to art for, because it meant I was free to create my own vision of the Darkness, based on enderberlyn's excellent descriptions.

Warnings for full frontal female nudity!

First, the banner - click on the pic or HERE to read the fic! [COMING SOON]

There's a lot of symbolism in the banner, which will hopefully become apparent when you read the story.

In terms of illustration, I was torn between several scenes as I read through the story. In the end, I went with the two images that stuck in my mind the most.
Firstly, the Darkness, walking naked and alone through fields of flowers, killing at a touch.

NSFW!

The second image is Sam-centric. In a world that to him is without colour, Sam fills the bunker with flowers - sunflowers and hollyhocks. I was going to fill his improvised vase with both, but somehow the sunflowers seemed to be enough, so I stopped there.

The only other art I ended up doing was two versions of the same divider, just running with the flower theme.

And that's it! Doesn't feel like much, now I've come to post it...

Process, resources, etc:
The background landscape for the Darkness pic was lifted wholesale from a gorgeous painting I found when searching for inspiration. Initially I'd thought I'd try and paint 'something like it', but the longer I contemplated trying something else, the more perfect this source pic seemed. So, yeah, I cheated massively. But look at it! It couldn't be more right...

Here's the original painting (click on the pic to go to the artist's site)

I cut and pasted the front section to build in more foliage, and added a layer to increase the canvas texture, plus I altered the overall shape of the painting slightly.
This is the photo reference I used for the Darkness's posture - though this model was way too skinny and her boobs clearly aren't real, so I made my Darkness more curvy and realistically shaped (I hope!).

A couple of initial sketches for Sam


As you can see, originally I was thinking of putting Dean in the background, but because in this story Sam only sees two things in colour, one of which is Dean, I thought having a colourful object in the background might take the focus away from Sam. So I left Dean out. now I'm thinking I should have added him after all!

The reference pic for the background was a bts photo which I flipped horizontally then sketched and shaded and fiddled around with until I was halfway satisfied with it.

What else...? Oh yes, I had a think about what Sam would put his flowers in, and concluded there's no way he'd go out and buy vases, he'd look round the bunker for something he could recycle. So I found an assortment of likely containers that the MoLs might have left behind from the 1950s, and came up with this coffee tin.

I think that's just about it. Apart from mentioning that the banner was a flower wreath photo I found on a search, plus a dead wood texture, and that I made the silhouettes using a screen cap reference but making sure to define their profiles because they weren't really visible in the cap.
There you have it. It's surprising how much I end up researching for art works, almost as much as for a fic!

Comments

[galadriel13.livejournal.com]

Well done! I love the sketches too, especially the second one. I understand it's a stage in the process, but as a piece of art it really shows Sam being only real to himself and everything else is nebulous, distorted. Love that. And I always love good Sam-hair!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you think it's good Sam hair! :D :D
Thanks bunches!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

I love love love seeing the sketches and reading about your thought process; that coffee tin is a brilliant idea! Your Darkness looks great, definitely more natural breasts than the reference (I'm always baffled by the placement of the nipples and what even is gravity?;) and the rest of her curves look fine too:) I like how you put her in that painting (you're right about it being very fitting) I don't know whether you should have put Dean in, I think the composition with the focus on Sam in colour works very well. The sunflowers "pop" and I adore the tip of his nose and his ARM. *chinhands*

You did plenty and it's such a nice set; I really like that the sunflower yellow is the same as the colour accents in the landscape painting and how you pulled everything together with the flowertheme:)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reassurance! I'm a bit of a scrapbooker with my art, I collage a lot from bits and pieces I find because - well - the internet is there, and full of amazing stuff I can use. But i'm not always sure I should be using things, you know?

Anyhow, glad you liked the set, wherever I got it from! LOL

[sillie]

Oh, these are great. Love seeing the sketches, thanks for sharing.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks me dear!

[crucis01.livejournal.com]

I love the one with the Sunflowers! So Sam!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Sam's just a great big sunflower... tall and floppy-headed. :D

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

These are gorgeous hun, and I love the 'in the process' shots too. I love watching you work. Have you ever considered the whole live streaming thing??

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I've no clue how to live stream - I did once try videoing what I was doing but it was awful boring to watch. Plus I tend to jump around a lot - so I'll be arting, then something will occur to me and I'll go look for a picture or something, then get distracted, read some fic, check my emails, end up down an internet rabbit hole and about an hour later remember I was in the middle of drawing.

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

lol! I 'spose that's not really what you want when live streaming ;) I think depending on your phone you can livestream, and facebook offer that service with certain operating systems. I've never figured out how to do it either, and having 'someone' even if they're not next to me, watch me work would probably put me off.

[mangacat201.livejournal.com]

I love the art! I also love how you always include 'in progress' sketches and little stories about your process. And I'm really glad that you made the Darkness look like a REAL woman, she looks great!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

It seems I like to chat about my art LOL! Yeah, I liked that model's pose but boy, that body's been much messed about with...
Thanks for looking and liking this, I appreciate it.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

These are fabulous. I love Sam's expression with the sunflowers. He looks very thoughtful and quite pensive.
x

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Pensive is good! Thanks me dear!

[jj1564.livejournal.com]

These are beautiful my dear! I love Sam's arms and chest (I'm such a perv!) and I love the splash of colour the gorgeous sunflowers give to the Bunker. I like how the beauty of The Darkness contrasts with the bleak landscape.

I love it when you post your artwork as apart from always knowing it's going to be amazing, I always know there's going to be a link to a great story!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks petal, I happen to think it's perfectly normal to perve ogle appreciate Sam... LOL

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! I always love seeing your art process, and how each image develops. I adore your take on the Darkness, and Sam with those sunny sunflowers.

Thank you for sharing :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The sunflowers seem to be a hit! :D

[sylsdarkplace]

I'm blown away. Gorgeous art.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks bunches! :D

[red-b-rackham.livejournal.com]

These are beautiful!! You are super talented. <3

And your Darkness looks like a real human, so kudos!! :D

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Aw thank you! And yay for proper human bodies!

[matchboximpala.livejournal.com]

I really liked what you have done here. The illustration of Jared with the sunflowers is my favorite, though -- your use of light and shadow gave definition to a world Sam only sees in black and white. And the coffee tin for a vase was a great touch. Very authentic!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm very happy you like Sam and his flowers (and his coffee tin!). Thank you!

[zara-zee.livejournal.com]

These are gorgeous. The naked Darkness walking through the fields, killing with her touch is just stunning. Truly stunning. And Sam and the sunflowers is lovely too. I like the light in that one, the way it illuminates the grey and then the burst of colour. And thanks, as always, for the progress shots. It's always interesting to get a glimpse into the way you work. :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very happy you liked the Darkness one. :D