Big Bang Art - Bells Pond

[alteredloc]

Big bang art!  For spn_j2_bigbang of course. (also posted here at Dreamwidth)

Title: Bells Pond
Author name: kelleigh
Artist name: alteredloc
Genre: Supernatural/Wincest
Pairings: Sam/Dean. Sam/OMC [implied].
Rating: NC17
Estimated word count: 52K+
Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers thru 5x15 [Dead Mean Don't Wear Plaid]

Summary: Not long after his run-in with Famine, Dean breaks down and prays for help. It's not God who answers. Michael appears before him and instantly changes everything Dean thought he knew about the Apocalypse.

A few days later, Sam wakes up alone in Bells Pond, Nebraska -- a far cry from the drab motel room in Tennessee where he fell asleep. Without Dean, Sam explores his desolate surroundings and discovers that the town lies in ruins thanks to a demonic event. It becomes clear that Sam's not as alone as he thought, nor can he escape from his strange prison. He fights against the power holding him there, afraid every day that Lucifer will hunt him down and force him to say yes. The Apocalypse continues to rage outside of his isolated world and Sam fears for his brother's life. As time drags on, and as Lucifer takes Sam to ever more seductive places in his dreams, Sam realizes that the people of Bells Pond may provide the key to everything he's been searching for but never thought he'd find. And waiting in the future is an unforeseen miracle, if Sam can last that long.








This is a truly fantastic story that everyone should read.  I just hope that I was able to capture some of the magic that is Bells Pond with my art.  In case you missed it here's the link again for the story.  Artwork is slightly spoilery so I suggest reading before viewing.  And as usual, click for larger.  :)


The Cover:

















Year Banners:

















The Soundtrack:  download it here






Resources:
Screencaps- WinchesterBros  Image Gallery, Hotn-caps: Supernatural,  oxoniensis, screencap-paradise

The image that inspired the story, the art, and from which I stole the Diner sign:



All other images are from Google images.


A/N:  kelleigh  was absolutely wonderful to work with.  She put up with me jumping the gun and sending her images before she even gave me the rough draft. Then my radio silence for several weeks when I got sick.  She even did some hand holding while I sent her draft after draft of essentially the same exact thing. I couldn't have asked for a better author to work with. :)

I fell in love with Bells Pond the second I started reading and there were so many images that instantly popped into mind and I tried my best to put them down.  There are several half finished concepts and different pieces that never made it from my sketchbook to completion.  If I had infinite time, there would be so much more to this post.  I think my biggest regret is that even after hours of searching, I was never able to find the exact image of the road outside Sam's house, as I saw it in my head.  I can only hope that I got close enough to satisfy both reader and author.


Of course thanks to  wendy and  thehighwaywoman for putting this challenge together.

Comments

[germanjj.livejournal.com]

very cool art!! I especially love the dark-warm-ish mood they create! the colors are wonderful, I'm amazed!!!

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the art :)

[tigerlily-too.livejournal.com]

Your art is lovely. I love when artists do a book cover, and yours really pulls me into wanting to read the story. Wonderful job!

Haven't read the story yet. It is next on my list after the BB I'm reading now.

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment! I love book covers too, I like how they can give an overall feel but still leave some intrigue. I hope you enjoyed the story. :)

[andreth47.livejournal.com]

Your art is STUNNING. And so perfect for the atmosphere of this fic. I am just in awe. Beautiful work!

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you so much for the comment. I really tried to convey the mood of the fic with the art and I'm glad you liked it.

[cammie-bluesky.livejournal.com]

WOW... very beautiful art. Definitely makes me extra curious and excited to read the story. :D

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

If I made you excited to read the story than my work is done. :) Thank you so much for the comment.

[inanna-maat.livejournal.com]

oh my god!!! amazing work here!!! I don´t know... I love the poster, the headers, wallpapers... ah!! I love the colours... your way merging colours and darkness... ah everything is just... awwwwwwwwwwwwww...

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the comment! I'm really glad you liked my art, I love working with nice deep moody colors. :)

[drea78.livejournal.com]

I love your art!!
Really awesome.
Great job you did - it makes me more than happy to look at it!!

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the comment, I'm so glad you liked the art!

[mementis.livejournal.com]

Beautiful artwork and so precisely in step with the story. Wonderful job :)

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the comment. I'm glad that you thought that I was able to accurately represent the story. :)

[davincis-girl.livejournal.com]

I like your year banners.

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you liked them. :)

[wynne88.livejournal.com]

The art is perfect for the story!

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the comment. I'm so happy you felt the art worked well with the story. :)

[kelleigh.livejournal.com]

You know, I never realized until this post that the diner sign in the cover is the same as in the original picture - crazy! Shows my mad skills of observation :)

I actually miss our frantic art emails right now, the excitement of this week has left me drained and sort of looking for more! Anyway, I was trying to figure out my FAVORITE piece of all these, and I just can't because there's something I love about each...

The Cover: Sam's expression says it all. I truly don't think there's a better pic of him that suits the story, plus the diner sign and TEENY!AMES wandering down the road...

The Collage: Because there's SO MUCH in there. The Ford, the house, SAM!!!! DEAN!!! And of course the painting mixed behind Dean, what Sam imagines.

The Year banners are perfect and I'm glad Ames snuck in there. I love the peace of Year Five, because it was ONE perfect day amidst everything else.

The soundtrack: SNOW GLOBE. I love the effect, and now I realize it's even more drawn from the story because Sam saw himself inside the perfect globe while he imagined the blackened earth outside. SO GO YOU.

I could look at all of this over and over, Sam's lonely cap, and the description of Bells Pond (which is still my wallpaper, by the way). You should be totally proud of what you accomplished :)

[auroraprimavera.livejournal.com]

You did this great story absolute justice - the overall feeling of I got is perfectly captured in the main image. I love everything, beautiful work :D

[1orelei.livejournal.com]

Haven't quite recovered my equilibrium from reading the story yet - but I wanted to tell you how complimentary your art was to the mood. Every time I'd click to a new page and take a few deep breaths (and more often than not, a much needed longer break) before diving back in - your art would be there, maintaining the mood. In fact I think one reason I could take the plunge and keep going was the year five and six banner - although my affection for Ames requires my excessive squeeee-ing over year three. :)

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

Amazing work. Your art is gorgeous, and perfect for the story. Also, I'm listening to the soundtrack right now, and it's wonderful! You guys both outdid yourselves. (I also recced you over here. (http://killabeez.livejournal.com/324281.html) :)

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you so much for the rec. I'm so happy to hear that you felt that the art matched the story. Thanks for the comment!

[nola-rue.livejournal.com]

I just finished Bell's Pond and I just had to pop over here and tell you that your artwork was a great addition to the fic!

Seriously. And I have got to specifically point out the Year Banners because I particularly loved those. I think they gave a good representation of each chapter and it wasn't until the 3rd year that I realized that they gave a little hint as to the mood/what was coming in the fic, or whatever. I just really enjoyed those as chapter breaks versus the breaks used in other fics. Excellent job! &hearts

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the comment! I almost didn't make the year banners, but threw them together last minute. I'm so pleased that they worked for you and helped you enjoy your reading experience. :)

[katiebugs18.livejournal.com]

These are all utterly and completely gorgeous and compliment the fic wonderfully. Great job! :)

[alteredloc.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you thought my art could stand up to such an awesome fic. Thanks so much for the comment!

[keerawa.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous artwork! The images really capture the feel of the story - the melancholy and loneliness of the years apart, the desperation of that day eah year with Dean.

The Year Six banner, in particular, gives me shivers.