BigBang 2012 ARTPOST the first

[beelikej]

After all the reclists, it's finally time to present my own artwork for this year's spn_j2_bigbang. The summary I claimed promised "a steampunk J2 version of Around The World In 80 Days" and Misha as a battle butler. How could I resist?

I hereby dare you to take that journey with me. Here are my designs for:



Title: To Find The World In A Grain Of Sand
Author: belledewinter
Artist: beelikej
Medium: Photoshop & Illustrator
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Story Rating: R (Art is G:)
Wordcount: Around 45.000
Summary: Steampunk AU. Heartbroken and eager to prove himself, Jensen Ackles makes a bet: that he will be able to go around the world in 80 days, no matter what obstacles one could find along the way.
With the aid of a man with many hidden talents who now acts as his valet and a young engineer with a mysterious heritage and a disarming smile, Jensen embarks on the journey of a lifetime, not knowing that danger is always just one step behind him. Will he make it home in time?

ARTWORK!
Storybanner
See above. I wanted to do more conceptual art instead of -once again- using images of the guys for the banner. I was inspired by Jensen's obsession with time and the story title, which I possibly took a little too literal. But I think the end result does capture the spirit of the story. Want to know how I made it? I'm sharing my original photos and techniques in the sketches and sources post.

Charactercards
In order to make up for the lack of pretty in the banner, I made charactercards for Jensen, Jared and Misha. That was of course an excuse to fiddle with the guys, but also an opportunity to capture the steampunk elements of the story. Plus it has Jared in eyeliner, yay!
Click for a closer look! (Trust me, you want to click these)

The part of the world behind each one of them, shows where the character originated from.

Chapterheaders
Each title is the destination of the chapter, notice how the clock represents the hour of its part. (Aren't I clever;) [You can click these too, but they are not as huge as the guys up above.]






Dividers
I wanted to capture the same style as the lettering in the story banner for the dividers. I made simple line drawings of all the different transportation-devices and since my experiment with sketches of the guys turned out alright, I also made dividers for each one of them. The versions for the author are transparent, especially for light surfaces. Since my own journal is black, I added a white background:) [ibid]






Extra art
I originally thought the Mecha in the first part would be their most important mode of transportation. So I started on a drawing of that. Of course eventually the guys travel in a variety of ways, as represented by the dividers I made later (see above). When I ended up with drawings of Jensen, Jared and Misha I figured I'd complete the Mecha and put them in it. Just for fun:) [Original is 1134 x 850 pixels!]


Icons
No set of artwork is complete without icons!
1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

And that's it! Want to know more about the images I used or the design-process?
Check out my sources and sketches post.




Thank yous
Thank you, belledewinter for offering your story and letting me play dress up with the guys. I feel like we really traveled around the world together *high fives*.
Of course also a BIG thanks to wendy and thehighwaywoman for their perfect organisation of the spn_j2_bigbang.

Thank YOU for stopping by!
(Comments, compliments and concrit are more than welcome;)

J.

P.S. Does anyone need a big bag of sand?

Comments

[aerynvala.livejournal.com]

omg you are so fucking awesome! these are all so amazing! I adore the dividers especially, they have such a unique and wonderful vibe to them. I adore the character art, and them all in the mecha is utterly perfect! the final chapter image, with the shot out pocket watch, is fantastical, very evocative!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Thank you for your extensive comment, I'm thrilled that you like all the different bits:)

[cassiopeia7.livejournal.com]

Wow. This is a true mixed-media presentation -- line drawings, video, photography and sand-sculpture. Beautiful, super-creative and awesome! Also? Your Jared is positively bewitching. ;)

*adds fic to reading list*

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I was a little worried about Jared's eyeliner, so I'm glad to hear it works *grins*

[amber1960.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of using the pocket watch to show the different time zones round the world in the chapter headers, but my faves are your little para dividers, especially the ones of the boys!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you:) So happy you like my minimal line drawings of the boys, it was fun working out these designs to fit in dividers.

[confuzed.livejournal.com]

These are gorgeous! I do like Misha the best though. :)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. I think I like Misha's outfit best too; he looks so suave;)

[blackrabbit42.livejournal.com]

Those dividers are just so charming! Perfect for a steampunk.

:)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you, it's good to know my designs fit the genre; it what I was aiming for:)

[keik01.livejournal.com]

BEAUTIFUL <3 This makes me itch to actually read the fic and see the dividers in place. I think I'm bewitched!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Hey, mission accomplished! \o/

[eyestoowide.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the fic yet, but your artwork definitely made me more curious! I love the mix of different styles/media you have going on here. I think the dividers are my favorite -- they're so creative. :)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's always a little daunting to make all the different styles fit together, so it's nice to know my mix worked for you:)

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i love the little dividers - the elephants are really cute - and i just now realized all the clocks in the chapter headers point to different times. >.< also? misha in the goggles and corset is pretty cool, and his outfit looks like something he might conceivably wear in real life.

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you:) Those elephants were fun to do. A lot of Misha's outfit is is own, I just gave it a lot more colour and of course added the awesome corset. But yeah, I too think he would totally rock that!

[sillie]

Oh, this is wonderful. I especially love the banner, after checking out your sources and sketches post. The dividers are really cute as well. :D

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you:) And thank you for taking a look at my s&s post; I had such a blast trying to figure out all the elements. (Hey, you have loads of animals at home, does any of them need aquarium sand?;)

[tanisafan.livejournal.com]

Ughhhh, this is all fantastic. I love how you do something completely different every time! And, literal or not, I love that banner. The globe, the perfectly placed sand, the watch, uuuunf.

I also totally adore the little dividers with modes of transportation, how cute is that?! I checked them against the neutral background and they look even more adorable there, heeeee.

Also? Also. Jared's eyeliner. That is all. <3

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much:) Wahey, my aim is to try new things every time, so I'm glad you noticed that. I love that the author used the dividers in her fic-journal; they work really well there:)

Eyeliner on guys is instant win.

[kros-21.livejournal.com]

Really nice art. And Jared looks so yummy :)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Jared does look delish, doesn't he? Who knew those eyes could even pop more;)

[tmn1966.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll start from the top:

I really love the banner and of course I had to check out how you did it. Wonderful. You constantly amaze me with your vision and how you work concepts, even subtle ones, of the story into your artwork.

The character cards just make me smile. I think my favorite is Misha. I just love those goggles and the expression on his face (but I, of course, love Jared and Jensen, too). And their clothes. I just smile looking at these cards.

The really like the font you used on the chapter headers. I like how 'spindly' the letters look. I hope that makes sense. LOL I also like how it's the same as the banner. Pulls it all together

I also love the dividers. They are so darling! The sketches of the guys turned out wonderfully. I really like them!

And aww, the Mecha, I love the boys in there looking out. Neat! :)

And yay for icons! I love them but the spinning globe is so awesome!!!

Great job, sweetie! Thank you once again for providing details on how you accomplished it.

♥

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

*smishes you* Thank you for your detailed comment, I wuv you.

Great discription of the font;) It caused me some issues, because the original letters are even spindlier *g*, which was hard to read on the sandy background, so I had to fiddle with the title. I also adjusted some individual letters on the chapterheaders, because they looked crooked to me. But I really like how it inspired me for the style of the dividers, so we're good now:)

Edited because I used the wrong icon. *twirls globe*

[deadflowers5.livejournal.com]

Lovely art! I especially loved the dividers!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I had fun with all those different kinds of transportation:)

[marciaelena.livejournal.com]

Great art! The drawings are especially lovely. <3

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Happy to hear you like the drawings:)

[bflyw.livejournal.com]

The banner is just brilliant! I took a look at the post where you explained how you've done it, and I love your work here! I kind of wish I had made it, because I would have been proud of that work! LOL :-)
I love how you have used the time on the clock to match the chapter number!
And your sketches - traced in illustrator - are just fantastic!
I love the font - which font is it?

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. Your comment means a lot because I know that you know the amount of work behind the scenes even without my sketch post;) I already told you before that I prefer to explore Photoshop for art-challenges, because I already make enough hours in Illustrator at work, but I was trying to create the look of the font in the drawings and that worked best as linework.

The font I used is called Elven Common Speak, I have no idea where I originally got it from, my font collection is old and overwhelming;) I did change a couple of letters and most of the numbers in the chapterheaders though, because sometimes the direction of the 'handwriting' felt off to me (especially for the capitals) I also had to fatten it up, it's a very thin font.

[dont-hate-me01.livejournal.com]

Very original art! Love the pocket watch idea, freaking awesome.

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Ahw, thank you! In the story Jensen is constantly checking his pocket watch so I just had to use it:)

J2 Part Two

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User wendy referenced to your post from J2 Part Two (http://spn-j2-bigbang.livejournal.com/350841.html) saying: [...] Art post: Here [...]

[pag01.livejournal.com]

Really nice and very unusual artwork!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much:)

[evian-fork.livejournal.com]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Jared and the eyeliner!!!! *can't say more my brain melt*

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Heehee, I apologize for the overdose of pretty;)