Artwork for 'Blue Mountain Lake'
Created for spn_j2_bigbang 2022.
I had a wonderful opportunity to work with the beautiful aelia_1980 . She wrote a really moving story about love, longing, misunderstandings and heartbreak with a happy ending. I love the story so much. It made me cry, it made me smile and at times even made me angry at the two oblivious fools! I was honored to work with her. Thank you so much, Aelia, for trusting me with your story. Link to her amazing story is here.
A big thank you to jdl71 for giving me prompt feedback and pointing out my mistakes so I could correct them before I could send them to my author.
A big shout out to the mod, Wendy, for running this challenge for another year.
Note: The credit for all the original photographs goes to the original artists. All the items used are merely for entertainment purposes. All images were found on Google.
This artpost can also be viewed on Ao3.
1. The Cover Art/Banner
I wanted to reflect the locations mentioned throughout the story on the cover/banner which are so beautifully described by the author. But there were too many things and I was confused so I asked Aelia, if there was anythings specific that she wanted me to focus on while making the cover art. Her prompt reply was mountains and lake. There were many such beautiful places available on Google which I could have just edited on PhotoscapeX pro and left it be. But I wanted to make it as original as possible. So, a cut out from 4 different photographs - sky from a different background, the mountains from a different photo, the cabin and lake from another and the green plains from a different photo altogether, were blended together to create the cover art. I used some 'Art' effects to make it look like it was a painting of sorts. The colors and shadows was the toughest part of this edit. The lights, saturation, hue and temperature had to be at specific parameters to get the feeling just right. Feel like there's still a long way to go for me to get these adjustments right. The font took a bit longer because Aelia wanted it to look more delicate and a few fonts that I suggested weren't catching her attention so, finally when she liked this one, I used shades of blue - so I could reflect the title of the fic into the font - 'Blue Mountain Lake.'
2. The scene where Jared goes on a hike with his dog.
This serene scene is described excellently in the story. Jared going on a hike to see the beautiful 'Blue Mountain Lake' situated in Adirondack Park. While this manip doesn't necessarily uses the images of the exact location, I tried my best to be as similar as possible to the original. It was important that I get two things right - the lake along with the water and the sky's reflection, and two - the color of Jared's clothes. It took me over an hour to match the color of Jared's clothes to one that is mentioned in the story. Because the image I used is of Sam Winchester wearing flannel shirt which is white/grey/brown/black in color. I had to blend the white/grey into perfect blue and brown into perfect black. Still not exactly as is imagined in the story but it's close. the next was getting the reflection of the sky and the trees properly in the water. It was another hour long process using 'Reflection' and 'Shadow' tool in 'PhotscapeX pro.'
3. The scene with the view from Jensen's room.
There's a particular scene - with Jensen feeling overwhelmed and lost sitting in front of the window on his first day in Jared's home- written so aptly in the story that I couldn't really help myself. It's described so beautifully and I'm sure I couldn't do enough justice to the story. Jensen opens the window to bright beautiful morning with a small shed/chicken coop where he can see chickens/hens roaming around, with a few wood logs in the corner, tree with no leaves, and birds. Again this is a mix of 3 different photographs. I used the 'Light Bokeh' effect to reflect the early morning setting of the story. This was created using many tools available on 'Photo Director' and 'PhotoscapeX pro'.
4. Jensen's Letter.
This was literally heartbreaking. Be ready with tissues when you read this part of the story. I just had to get this done. I couldn't incorporate the entire letter into one page because of the size of the paper background. I did the next best thing - wrote last part of the letter. It's general knowledge that Ackles has good handwriting. That's why it was important to get the font as close to his lettering style as possible. I went with 'handwriting-cursive' font family. It took me two tries to get the color right so it won't be too bright for the eyes or too light to read. Of course, I couldn't just create a letter and leave it be - it had to include the fact that there are tear drops on it. Blending it was challenging part but I hopefully made it look okay-ish.
5. The camping scene.
Getting this one done was really tough and it's still not 100%. I'd give it 30/100. Many many mistakes but my author gave it a green light so I didn't mind. Jared and Jensen happy camping, spooning in the tent after almost one year - celebrating their relationship. I used face tools in PicsArt to get their sleeping faces right. Used 'Water Sketch' effects and added 'Mirage' mask filter - to reflect the idea that what started as a 'to be or not to be or definitely no' relationship ended up being 'together forever' kinda thing. At the beginning, they both were unsure and coming together was just a dream but that dream did come true. So, the mirage filter was used to reflect that even in fog, there's clarity.
6. The POV headers.
The story has three POVs. I had to make sure that the images I use were according to the character description. It was fun to read grumpy/serious Jared and a tensed Jensen.
a. Jared POV.
This was created by using three different images. the cabin was cut out from different photograph, the background from a different one and Jared from the SPN photoshoot. The cabin and the snow are synonymous with Jared's character - calm but cold/lonely - who lives a secluded life.
b. Jensen POV.
Jensen's character - tensed, afraid and serious - suffered too much alone and the background - is synonymous with what his character ends up with. A long, gloomy, dark road that leads him to Jared.
c. Jared and Jensen
Green trees with bright sky and a happy J2 - because they're at their best whenever they are together.
7. The chapter headers.
the story progresses over a span of year with different seasons - summer, autumn, winter spring. When I initially asked Aelia if there's anything specific she wats me to include it was her idea that I come up with season specific headers that somehow include lake or woods or mountains. So, season specific - I had to find different images so I could create a background cut out to blend with the plain color header. The summer header (chapter 1 and Epilogue) had bright color reflections from sunrays in the lake. The autumn header (chapter 2 to 6), has a secluded lake, with reflection of autumn colors with extension of autumn leaves border. The winter header (chapter 7 to 10), has a semi frozen lake with extension of crystal branch of tree. And spring header (chapter 11 and 12) has green lake in woods with green leaves as extension.
That's it folks! Hope you enjoyed!