acme_graphics | Echoes - Art Post (Reply)

Title: Echoes
Author:

rearranged
Summary: When an old friend shows up, Dean goes on an impulsive bear hunt, only to find he's hunting something else entirely. He shoots an angel that is protecting the last remaining griffin clutch from a reality-travelling demon that would use them to destroy Heaven. Neither he nor the angel are prepared for the effect of the bond that exists between them in the alternate reality as they try to protect the griffin and her clutch from the demon.

Thanks As always, to

thehighwaywoman and

wendy for running the always marvelous

spn_j2_bigbang. It is the best one in my opinion.

To

rearranged for writing a story that so thoroughly captured my imagination. An author's vivid words make the artist's task so much easier and more pleasurable. She put me right into the wilds of the Eastern mountains, and I loved making the art for this story.

Not only that, but this story is an AU that is just a step to the right from canon, so it gives us a good sense of how things would be if a few things changed. However, all the characters are so perfectly *them* that it doesn't seem awkward.

And to

uisgich for the feedback, the handholding, and all the suggestions that made my work better.

These are mildly spoilerly for the story, but not too bad. I would still recommend reading the story first!

Title Art

I did the background on my iPad with Paper 53, and then took it into Photoshop for finishing. The letters were sketched with pencil on sketch paper, then cleaned up in Illustrator, and decorated in Photoshop.

The Dream Lake

The composition here was taken directly from a similar scene in The Rapture. However, I changed the background quite a bit to make it fit with the Appalachian setting to the story (inspired by pictures of Summersville Lake and Smith Mountain Lake). The initial painting was done with Corel Painter, then finished in Photoshop.

Castiel Tames the Bear

I have to admit -- I spent much of my childhood drawing horses in various poses, but that is about the extent of my experience drawing animals. To me, bears look like men wearing baggie pants, so this was a bit of fun. Also, for anyone who hasn't spent time in the Appalachians, they are suffocating once the leaves come in with vegetation and humidity, so I tried to convey that with all the green. Background done in Corel Painter, then details done in Photoshop.

Divider and Icons

Chapter Titles - Using the same pattern as the title art, cut out each from the painting for the title background

Redbud leaf - used in the divider, because I am lazy and only painted one leaf

Rough Drafts - I think better with a pencil than I do a digital program or tablet, so I usually rough out my ideas in my sketchbook and then flesh them out digitally. These are scans of those drafts.

Mountains