2010 - SPN REVERSEBANG - Prompt I : SPEEDWAY
2010 - SPN REVERSEBANG - Prompt I : SPEEDWAY
Disclaimer : I am not a native English speaker so sorry about the bad!English in the post.
Welcome to the art post for SPEEDWAY by transfixeddream .
Unfortunately, my author had to postpone the posting of the fic but be sure to check out his journal very soon with a completed version of the story and also one more additional illustration. We both took the decision to wait. In fact transfixeddream kindly gave me the choice between writing a shorter story and being ready for today or writing the fic originally planed (with all the great plot and strong characters development) and to postpone in order to have the time to write it properly. I chose the second option because I already had the occasion to read some finished parts and it looked absolutely awesome so having a sorter version just for today would have been a crime.
I hope you understand, it worth the wait completely.
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Don't forget this is the spn_reversebang : the soon-to-be-posted story has been partly inspired by the illustrations below that is to say that all the drawings are completely SPOILERY. You then have the possibility to leave now to avoid spoilers for the future fic or to check out the four illustrations below.
And because we all have a beta, let me introduce you mine. She has been a fantastic support during this adventure that started in July (to cut a long story short : thank you, thank you, thank you!
)
Let's go!!
PART I : THE ARTS AND ONLY THE ARTS
Click on the links below to FULL VIEW
1) Speedway Poster Art
2) The Accident
3) State of Shock
4) I want you to want me
5) Divider - Title - End Title
Title:
Divider :
End Title :
6) Icons
PARTS II : TECHNICAL RAMBLING FOR THE PHOTOSHOP GEEKS (+ SOME SKETCHES)
What's the concept ?
Jared's a rookie in NASCAR, eager to race and loving the adrenaline of it - basically it's been his dream to be a driver since he was a kid. Jensen's a two-time champ and kind of a jerk, badass and reclusive all in one, who's kind of lost the reason he entered the business in the first place and now is only worried about a good time and sponsorships. (summary written by transfixeddream )
Why Nascar ?
I love cars. I watch Hot Rods and car shows whenever I can on the Discovery Channel and I wanted a story full of angst and testosterone. Car races seemed to be a good environment for such a fic. Not to mention that I found the Js incredibly hot in their racers uniforms when I drew the first sketches so it helped me to decide.
An inspiration for the drawing style ?
It's not obvious at all but I've been greatly influenced by the works of Taiwanese artists Chen Shu Fen & Common. Their illustrations are incredible, they are hyper realistic watercolors done with Painter. I tried to obtain for this prompt the same "watercolor effects". However, the finished product for Speedway has nothing to do whatsoever with the arts of Chen Shu Fen & Common and I am not surprised : I just couldn't help adding 100 textures, highlights, brush strokes to my drawings. It was "never enough" and at the end the "watercolor effects" I wanted to obtain in the first place got lost somewhere into the Matrix.
A digital paining by Shu Fen & Common
Concerning the composition of the illustrations, the drawings have somehow the same narration as a comic but without the different panels. I thought it would be more dynamic. In addition, as it is the spn_reversebang , I needed to tell a story in my art and this kind of composition helped a lot.
Tools of the trade ?
Softwares : Photoshop CS - Painter Essential 3
Tablet : Wacom Graphire 4
Sketches : Ink pencil for kanjis - pencils (various pencils from 2H to 4B), charcoal, crayons.
1) Poster art
I conceived this one as a movie poster and even if I wasn't very sure about what the final result would look like when I started, I knew at least one thing : Jensen had to look really REALLY bad ass on this one. It must be a big stereotype but for me stories linked to cars and to the world of racers must be full of "guys with an attitude" (I maybe saw Days of Thunder too many times, who knows!
) hence the badass!Jensen with a 3 day stubble and a scar. I then started with this sketch that I used later as a starting point for the CG art :
I chose mainly for this prompt reference pictures from the beginning of S2 because, in my opinion, Jared was just gorgeous in episodes such as In my time of Dying or Everybody Loves a Clown. It must be the "Liam Gallagher" haircut, IDK. However what looks good on a picture doesn't always looks good when it comes to CG art. What you can see below is the version I sent to the spn_reversebang mods for the art claim.
One or two hours after finishing the art and sending it, I started to really hate it. It wasn't the palette, it wasn't the composition, it surely wasn't Jensen. The problem was Jared. I found him flabby, almost fat on this picture, not to mention the green highlight in the middle of his face. Because I am a complete masochist, I used another reference picture (from S4, sue me
) and started the left part of the picture from scratch to reach the final version of the Speedway Poster Art. I really prefer the new one, I think the fact Jared looks down makes the image even more intense and angsty.
Reference pictures : Jared - Jensen - Cars
2) The Accident
During a race, Jensen loses the control of his car and is the victim of a severe accident. The car is on fire and the racer is rushed to the hospital in a critical condition under the eyes of very shocked Jared.
Jared was the starting point of this fan art. I found a reference picture that was absolutely PERFECT and the rest was just so obvious. As usual, I started with a sketch and built the image around it.
As far as Jensen is concerned, I know, he should have worn a helmet on the picture because the accident happened during a race. But let's just imagine that the emergency team is already taking care of him and has put his helmet off. I honestly didn't want to hide his face with a big helmet (what a waste!
).
This picture is one of the most angsty moments of the story so I used a rather dark palette with two dominant colors : dark blue and orange. If everything would have been in the orange/red tones, the fire, the blood, the red details wouldn't have been so sticking and it was important that the eye of the viewer would be first attracted by these precise elements in the pic. It's the contrast between the two dominant colors that is important in the image.
Confession : I painted over some parts of the car because "mechas" are not my thing (except muscle cars but here it was out of question to draw an Impala or a Ford Torino, it's not a Starsky and Hutch fan art). After 5 tries I still didn't have the shape of the car right so I traced some parts because I was really fed up (I know, it's bad, I am gonna go the fan artists' hell for that).
Reference pictures : Jared - Jensen - Ambulance
3) State of Shock
Right after the accident, Jensen is rushed to the hospital in a critical condition and is the victim of a cardiac arrest (yes, I love drama. Blame it on a whole childhood spent watching soap operas with my Grand-Mother...
)
I started with an ink sketch. I don't know what you think about it but I find it absolutely hilarious (even if the situation is not, of course). It reminds me of the 1970's shojo mangas featuring bishonen with big eyes full of stars. I don't know how the hell I reached this result but I definitely kept it "for the lulz". Thank god, the final version is more angsty and has nothing to do with the sketch below.
I laugh every time I see it...
Jensen's sketch, on the contrary, was far less "shojo" like. It literally drove me nuts when I switched to Photoshop and started the CG painting because of the medical equipment. It was very exciting (a technical challenge) and very frustrating (it was very long) at the same time because I was eager to see the finished picture but unfortunately, it' s not the kind of stuff you can obtain in two hours.
Sorry about the poor quality of the image : crappy scanner + drawing done at the back of a hand out + ball pen = what you can see above...
Reference pictures : Jensen - Jared
4) I want you to want me (working title "Daytona, we have a problem" )
I know : you may wonder what exactly is the problem with this drawing (apart from the fact it's incredibly schmoopy, of course). No, it's not the boys, they are very cute I think. It's the car... For Speedway , transfixeddream was helped in his researches concerning Nascar by a friend who happens to be a real Nascar expert. The lady was positive : there's no way a Nascar car could be out of a circuit, in the middle of a town even if it's driven by its pilot. First, it costs million of dollars, the sponsors would never allow it and two, it's simply not adapted to the streets of a big city. After a few emails and some headaches for transfixeddream (not to mention that I just COULDN'T picture myself redrawing the car in another environment, it was just too much work), his friend and him found the solution : the car will be out for a charity event (I know, you didn't read the fic yet but this is a really minor spoiler compared to the arts themselves after all). What a relief!!!
On another level, this art says something about me as a fan artist : I am unable to draw a kiss, I mean a big sloppy kiss with the tongues like this fantastic one by artmetica . Everybody has its limits. It's not that I find it shocking or that it's a big "no-no" : it's purely technical. I never get the mouths right. It's a real CURSE (or rather a lack of technical skills, but let's just say it's a curse
). I wanted to draw a real kiss with Jared grapping Jensen by the collar of his jacket and pulling him into a passionate kiss but it was a complete failure. I dropped and went for something simpler ( I should be ashamed...) but I am not going to abandon the project to draw a REAL kiss one day.
As usual it started with an ink sketch colorized thanks to Photoshop and Painter. In my first try the kiss was taking place under the rain but I stepped back because it was definitely too much. As I said once, it's the spn_reversebang , not the schmoop_bingo not to mention that it would have made too many elements on the same image : the boys, the car, the lights, the rain. No, if I wanted the viewer's eyes to be attracted to the most important part of the picture first (the kiss), it was better to remain rather minimalistic when it came to the composition and not going for a big "Photoshop blend" where, at the end, you don't even know anymore what the hell is happening on the image.
Happy end people, everybody can go back home now
Exactly, like in the accident picture (Art #2), I painted over a good part of the car. (I know, why a Nascar prompt if you are not able to draw a car properly Petite-Madame...it's just that I am mad about sports AU and cars and as far as I know there wasn't any Nascar AU in this fandom so...). I love the result but drawing all the logos wasn't the most exciting experience I had concerning this prompt. I enjoyed the hospital and the kiss scenes above MUCH more but it's not surprising, I love drawing faces and apart from the Metallicar or General Lee (The Dukes of Hazzard) that I drew at least 100 times, mechas are not my cup of tea.
The title of this illustration comes from a song by Chris Isaac.
Reference pictures : Jensen - Car - (Can't find the Jared photo ^^;;)
Voilà!! It's the end!!
I hope you enjoyed this post and the illustrations.
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A big thank you once again to transfixeddream who, even if he wasn't ready on time put, and is still putting a lot of efforts in this Nascar story. The collaboration was a pleasure!! And now I am waiting impatiently to read the rest of Speedway!!
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See you on Sunday (21st) for Prompt #2 by Ancastar (Spn - Sam/Dean)