#dcbb2023 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

hawkland · 7 months

Text

Art Masterpost: Solitudes

Story by: ilovehowyouletmefall (@angelinthefire) Art by: sidewidner (@hawkland)

It's October and that means it's @deancasbigbang season once again! This year makes for my third time around for the event, although this year I only managed to participate as an artist (I'm still in a bit of writer's burnout since the summer). But, that meant I could put all of my focus and time into doing these four pieces for @angelinthefire's wonderful story "Solitudes." I'm gonna talk a little bit about my ideas and process and share some progress pictures behind the cut in a way that might be kind of spoilery, so if you want, just go read the story now! And then you come back here later to find out more if you wish. All works were completed in watercolor with some digital effects and filtering after completion.

I was really drawn to the imagery of the architectural elements of where the story takes place (an abandoned brutalist mansion) vs. nature and decay...plus the way light and shadow seemed to play such important roles in the visual descriptions. Dean and Cas spend so much of the story separated by supernatural forces even when they are in the same room I wanted to focus on that as well: being so near yet so far apart, not quite connecting or even able to look at each other without barriers.

I started on the banner art right away, thinking of Dean in despair (for reasons in the story) and Cas yearning/wishing he could reach him. Behind them both is the concrete wall covered in mold and moss (which was a LOT of fun to paint). The actual final watercolor painting came out as so:

(This is one of my favorite Deans that I've painted. His face can be SO hard to get right!)

Working with angelinthefire's suggestions I ran some different digital filters on the photo to desaturate/emphasize the light and dark for the final banner, and then with that in mind tried to keep the other pieces in a similar color scheme and tonal range.

The atrium painting was the biggest challenge. I knew I wanted to do a piece to capture the feeling of the house, the light coming in from an open skylight falling on brambles growing out of an old fountain spot. I was thinking of the Roman villa ruins I've visited combined with some actual Brutalist/modern homes I looked up. My original drawing plan was a bit more complicated and simplifying/taking out some elements definitely makes it more creepy/mysterious looking and less like a funky modern home.

You can see the vanishing/perspective point is right where Dean is looking at Cas.

The light falling down from above was partially painted with some interference/shimmer watercolors, but I amplified it (along with the shadows) with some digital effects at the end. This was before doing any digital magic:

Dean reaching for Cas: I made myself so sad working on that piece! It was also quite the challenge to get the likeness right at that angle and do the lighting the way I wanted, so again I used some digital effects at the end to really intensify it. Painting before filters:

I think my favorite part of that one is how I dry-brushed the ash wings in one shot and they came out just how I wanted! My main reference was, heh, that old classic shot of unconscious Cas being poked with a stick. I used my own hand for Dean's reaching out to what he sees through the harsh angled light.

The final piece is a direct companion to the one above it, and one I'd been thinking about for weeks, trying to map it out mentally before tackling it. Dean's face can be so much more challenging for me to try to capture well compared to Cas's and I really wanted to get his shock and horror in that moment while also being able to show (the real) Cas in the background/shadows...this was the third drawing pass before I finally started painting it. There's only a light bit of filtering over the final piece to push Cas back in the shadows (I didn't want to do with the paints for fear of muddying the colors...plus I was already painting Cas so small any wrong brush stroke could shift his likeness/expression.)

Overall I really like how unified these pieces all ended up feeling and I hope they manage to complement the story in a way that it deserves!

#dcbb #dcbb2023 #sidewinder art #hawkland art #my art #destiel art #dean winchester #castiel #spn fanart #watercolor #art masterpost

78 notes · View notes

ephemerastardust · 6 months

Text

[DCBB2023] Art for Mark of Darkness, Spark of Hope

Link to fic | Author's AO3

❗ Please read the tags before scrolling down ❗

Tags: Alternate Season/Series 10, Mpreg, Pregnancy with a Nephil Baby, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Demon/MOC Dean, Wing Kink, Castiel Possessing Dean Winchester (consensual), Angel True Forms

It's DCBB season again!! I was so luckily paired with @seidenapfel (who is also my partner for Dadstiel this year) and this so sweet fix-it of Season 10!

Banner

This image jumped into my mind immediately when I saw the fic and I made it in 2 or 3 days haha (so sad I was really busy this DCBB season) it was so hard to make things visible when everything is so dark but I kinda love how the color and light turned out in the end :D

The Beginning

It is the beginning of everything, it is the epic moment of two worlds connecting, it's the start of a a new life... haha I have been wanting to draw demon!Dean x Angel!Cas for so long and I knew I must draw this one as soon as I saw the draft 🤣 But I cannot actually form a good enough image in my mind and I changed the sketch and pose several times 😶 I am still not satisfied with the result but the no more time so 😶 (and I hope it survives 🤞)

Healing

I love the moment Dean touches Cas' wings and their daughter's grace heals it immediately when I saw it - I always want Cas' wings restored and their daughter healing it is perfect. Strong light in a dark environment is still so difficult for me 😥 (the entire image is still too dark I guess) but I don't have much time to adjust it 😥

To my Author, fellow artist, and mods

I am so happy to be paired with seidenapfel again :D She is also my author for the Dadstiel bang this year hahah we were still working on the dadstiel piece when DCBB claiming happened. When the pairing result was released shortly after the claiming began she messaged me immediately and I couldn't believe the luck 🤣 I was quite busy in the past few months and she was supportive and encouraging as always :D And the story is a so sweet and warm altered version of S10 which gives me everything I wanted :D Please go give it a read if it's your thing!

I didn't have much online time but I sneaked peeks here and there at other participants' art and they are all so amazing! So happy to join this event with so many talented artists :D Ah also I got so many helpful suggestions for my banner!

And I want to say thank you to all Mods! The mods team is as reliable and responsive as always and thank you so much for running such a great event every year!

#dcbb 2023 #destiel #deancas #casdean #destiel fanart #spn fanart #illustration #digital art #my art

39 notes · View notes