Big Bang Artwork for I Leave My Heart in the Dust Where You Walk

[dephigravity]

Title: Artwork for I Leave My Heart in the Dust Where You Walk Also on or reblog on
Author: akintay
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Additional Characters: Danneel
Rating: Not Rated
Medium: Photoshop CS6 for coloring and animation, Corel Painter 12 for line work
Artist Notes: For spn_j2_bigbang

**Thanks to:

To my art betas, fiercelynormal, and transfixeddream for all your advise and helping rein in my always present delusions of grandeur– all while keeping me on track with multiple challenges. And also to ldyghst for being my music guru and for helping me have my first fanmix attempt be mostly painless. ♥♥♥ And to shinyslasher and my Twitter timeline for being the best set of cheerleaders a guy could ask for.

To akintay for writing such a beautiful and inspiring story, and for putting up with my thousands of frantic and frazzled emails. You are an amazingly talented writer, I was seriously lucky to get you as a collaborator, and it was such a pleasure being able to work with you again. ♥♥♥ PS I OWE YOU A HAYLOFT PORN TIMESTAMP!

And finally to wendy for organizing this challenge, the work you put into this challenge-- singlehandedly this year, might I add--is awe inspiring! I bow before your modly prowess.






Jensen's life is pretty simple: he runs the ranch his parents left him, spends what little time off he has with his best friends, and occasionally drives for miles to hook up with men he will never have to see again. He tells himself he isn't really gay and that he's happy with the life he leads. But then Jared – tall, beautiful and vibrant – arrives on the ranch looking for work, and Jensen begins to question who he is and what he really wants.




Banners





For my banner this year, I decided I really wanted to do a simple landscape. So I started out drawing and coloring the sunnier cloud version. Meanwhile, it started to storm outside and I randomly thought, "Oooh, Texas is known for their thunderstorms, and there is a storm in the fic!" So, I decided, what the hell, I'll just make a variant thunderstorm version. And then came another lightning bolt, and another, and another, and, well, you see the end result... remember those delusions of grandeur I said I get? These were the first things I did, so, I guess after spending time on a GIF everything would seem like a piece of cake, right?!




Jensen and Shadow



(click for larger version)

WIP GIF


Usually I start with my J2 pieces first before moving onto dividers, headers, etc, but this year I did the exact opposite. When I finally finished all the other non J2 stuff, this was my first. I just really wanted to draw Jensen with Shadow (aka Shadowfax.) I just really like horses, okay?!




Jared and Daisy


(click for larger version)

Now I couldn't draw Jensen and his horse and not do Jared and Daisy. This one provided a little bit of a challenge, seeing as how dark Daisy is and I tend to usually use bold and bright colors and I chose lighter line art this time. Hopefully it worked out it the end.




Danneel


(click for larger version)


Y'know, I don't draw women nearly as much as I should. That being said, I've always wanted to draw Danneel (chibis don't count) and this gave me an excuse to try to correct that.





Headers





When I read akintay's fic, I was struck by all sorts of Western imagery and I wanted to use some of that, so I decided to do individual smaller scale art for each chapter.




Divider



Originally I was going to use some wheat as dividers, but for some reason they just never seemed right for me. Driving in town one day, I saw a cowboy driving this truck that had barbed wire decals– what, I'm a country boy– and thought, "hey, something like that might work." But plain old barbed wire seemed so blah, so I Googled Texas and came across these metal stars painted with the Texas flag and voila!




Directional Buttons








Icons





Thank you for looking at my art and definitely check out the akintay's fic! I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

Comments

[expectative.livejournal.com]

Holy shit Nick, this is so fucking amazing! I can't even imagine how long it must have taken you to draw all this! I love The banner, so 'simple' but so atmospheric.

And pretty boys with horses <3

And the chapter headers are perfect, in that washed out, sepia tone, it really makes me want to read the fic :D

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you, Thom! It took a little while, but it's hard for me to know how much considering I was doing six weeks of TW art at the same time. SO MUCH DRAWING! lol

[ldyghst.livejournal.com]

So amazing hon! <3 I love all the color choices and the horses and Danneel! Everything is awesome! Especially the animated banner!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweetie! <3 And thank you for sharing your fanmix expertise. YOU DA BEST!

[deanshot1]

OMG! These are just stunning, You have done another incredible job with your art.
Each piece just calls out for the story to be read and what a story it was.
Thank you for bringing akintay's story to life with the gorgeous art up above and thanks sharing.
*hugs*

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Ah thank you for that and for thinking my art lived up to akintay's wonderful story. <3

[ephermeralk.livejournal.com]

Wow! This is really beautiful art, and there is SO MUCH OF IT! From the simple setting banner (not-so-simple gif) to the boys and their horses (awww) and all the wonderful dividers and Danneel! It's all stunning, and definitely gives that wonderful, simple, western feel. Can't wait to read the story too!

Thanks for sharing, it's lovely!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I only wish I could have done more, because this fic truly deserved it!

[chasingdemons.livejournal.com]

Wow! Amazing artwork!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i love the lightning banner! the clouds are pretty fabulous and the lightning is excellently spiky. and danneel is gorgeous. and i really like the divider too.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[zubeneschamali.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! I especially liked the lightning, and the horses are amazing.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you!!!

[laurathelurker.livejournal.com]

Not only is the art beautiful but that lightning gif is amazing. And the headers and dividers look like they should fit perfectly with the theme of the story. Also loved the WIP gif for the Jensen drawing it is always so cool to see the behind the scenes stuff.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm glad you like them!

[chellexxx.livejournal.com]

beautiful work & it really fit the story

xxx

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[equally-dour.livejournal.com]

Wow, such gorgeous work!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[untitleddemo.livejournal.com]

These look fantastic. Nick! I love that you did Danneel, she looks great. I love the tones (is that the right word?) you used, they give the pictures a sort of feel that seems to go well with the setting. Wonderful art!!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Aw, you are the sweetest! Thank you so much. ♥♥♥

[bflyw.livejournal.com]

I'll get to the fic later, because I won't have time to read until a few days..... but the banner drew me in! wow! I love the lightning that flashes in it. So wonderful! And then the rest of the art. wow! If the fic is half as wonderful as the art, then I will love it!
Well done! So well done!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for all your lovely words! Definitely read the fic, you will not be disappointed!

[tmn1966.livejournal.com]

Wow, so gorgeous! I love them each and every piece! And I really love the interactive banner - the lightning strikes and the sky lighting up - is beautiful!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!!

[shinyslasher.livejournal.com]

GORGEOUS WORK! EVERYTHING FEELS SO REAL, like still life on farm paintings or something! I have squeed over some of this already but it didn't make me love it any less. I really love the dividers and wow those banners are amazing! And your Danneel sure looks HOT!

My favorite one is with Jared and the black horse, that horse looks like he's REAL, omg, it even distracted me from ogling Jared's crotch there for a sec lol. Can I haz black horse icon, pretty plz? AND DAMN JENSEN WITH HIS FACE AND HIS FRECKLES, I'm not even gonna comment on that *huffs*

You should be doing this art thing professionally, hon, you're ROCKING IT! <3333

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

:DDD Thank you, my dear!

I don't know about the professional part, doing it in my free time stresses me out enough as is. :P

[mashimero.livejournal.com]

Nice work with the storm gif, and the details on the header art! Jared and Jensen with their horses are cute, but I think Danneel is my favourite here somehow!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Why thank you, I am delighted that you liked it! :D

[sandymg.livejournal.com]

Just beautiful. Wow. What a great BB post. I kept staring at the lightening GIF. That was super cool. And the illustrations of the boys are fantastic. Plus all the detail in the different headers. Everything is just stunning. Will be nabbing the story next.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you so much! You really should, the fic is phenomenal!

[somersault-j.livejournal.com]

Fuck, these are all perfect. So, so damn good and beautiful. I love them all :D

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

T.T Thank you for saying that! ♥

[kinkajou.livejournal.com]

OMG, all the prettiness <3333 the lightning, and the dividers, and chapter things, and, just, <3333333

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Why thank you!!! <333

[alexisjane.livejournal.com]

Did I tell you how much I love this already? Well, I do. All of it. Esp the barbed wire dividers, I know they're such a small thing but that was such a blindingly good idea, Hun *high fives you* They're so original and beautifully executed : )
Also, if you fancied doing a walk through post on how to gif, I wouldn't hate it : ) x

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Awww, thank you! The idea of the divider was such a random convergence, but I really ended up liking the result.

I may just have to, though it would probably take me a while because LOTS of small steps, but really not all that complicated when you get the hang of things. <3

[siennavie.livejournal.com]

That lightning storm is cool and all the details are nice, especially with the horses and chapter headers. Also, more girls, yes, please; Danneel is lovely. Nice work!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, I'm glad you liked them. :)

[becc-j.livejournal.com]

All the artwork is amazing. the lines are so clean and I love all the details in everything, and the textures. Your headers are fantastic. Brilliant work <3

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, this all means a lot coming from you! ♥

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

WOW! The way you've managed to get the lightning to flash is incredible! You've really captured Jared's grin and Jensen's eyes and I love how you've created the horse too plus your dividers are SO cool :D and Danneel's lips and eyes are perfect :)

Brilliant artwork!

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for your lovely words! <3

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Such a glorious artpost *smishes*

The banner. Djeebus; 'just a sky and a fence' sounds so simple but you gave it so much attention and the gif is a perfect execution. Wow.

WIP gif \o/ *twirls you* Holy crap; I could stare at this all day. It really shows the amount of details you put into your drawings. All the shading! Love-love-love the light in Jensen's eyes. Also: that background.

The Texas-star/barbwire dividers are so cool.

Daisy's colouring is perfect.

Danneeeeeel! I was just saying to cassiopeia7 the other day how there is not enough Danneel in fandom-art and there you are, adding your own gorgeous version of her and her hair. <3

And then you made a soundtrack and kickass chapter headers and ALL THE THINGS an author could wish for.

You, sir, RULE. Well done. Now excuse me for staring at that WIP gif a bit more.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

OMG YOU ARE SO SWEET! Thank you for making my day with all your wonderful comments. <3

[petite-madame.livejournal.com]

Wow! These ones are amazing! I LOVE the palette you used! These soft, muted colors work so well.

There are tons of details and you did an animated banner too! There's never enough gif banners and pics in this fandom! ^o^
I'm gonna sound silly but even if the characters and all the art are very well done, the detail that really caught my eyes is how you drew wood, particularly the broken wheel and the barrier. Amazing! ♥

Congrats on posting your BB art \o/

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

/late reply is late

OH WOW!

Palettes are always kind of tricky for me- color theory HOW DO YOU WORK?- so it really makes me happy when someone points them out.

I agree, there aren't nearly enough animated banners, BUT WE BOTH DID THEM! Clearly we rock!

And thank you so much for the comment about how I draw wood yes, still the tree kind. Sometimes I tend to get lost in the details in things like hair and textures, so it really means something when someone of your caliber highlights something like that. ♥

[cherie-morte.livejournal.com]

NICK WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD AT THINGS????

What a spoiled little author akintay is this year. All those dividers and part headers, each with a different image, but all tying in so perfectly to the atmosphere of this incredibly coherent art set.

I love the lightning effect you used on the banner! It captured my attention the moment I saw it pop up on my friendslist (errr, and I sure took long enough to come comment to say as much :#/). Very STORM'S COMING but also, like, the few times I have been out in the country and a storm was coming, this banner just took me right back to that moment so distinctly. It's a really different experience watching one roll in on a ranch than in the city, and you captured that feeling like it's trapped in your art forever.

The portraits are just gorgeous, too. You nailed their likenesses, as you always do. The coloring is perfect and has a kind of worn quality to it, which is exactly right. I'm not even much of a Danneel fan, but that piece in particular. I just caught myself staring at it for several minutes the first time I saw it.

Awesome work, love!!

OH, AND YES. I SAW THAT NOTE AT THE TOP. YOU ABSOLUTELY DO OWE akintay HAYLOFT PORN AND YOU SHOULD DELIVER THAT FOR HER.

[dephigravity.livejournal.com]

Clearly I sold my soul, I think I made a decent trade for that dusty old thing. :)

I love working with akintay! And tbh after I failed to due much on our last collaboration attempt, I made myself a promise to hopefully make it up to her the second she revealed she was my author. I only wish i had time to do MORE!

The banner was fun! It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would once I started doing it.

And thank you for your comment on the portraits. I really tried to push myself with the shading and took my time on each one.

♥

I KNOW, I'VE WANTED TO DO THAT SCENE WHEN I SAW THE CLAIMS SUMMARY! i just ran out of time. LE SIGH.