aesc: (Default)
aesc ([personal profile] aesc) wrote2008-03-22 09:30 pm

.art: Cover for [personal profile] fiercelydreamed's "Unidentified" and noir AU

A couple experimental pieces, by which I mean experimental for me. One is a cover for [livejournal.com profile] fiercelydreamed's really, really awesome Unidentified, and the other is a draft of a cover for the noir!AU [livejournal.com profile] villainny and [livejournal.com profile] amberlynne have been interested in.







1: At some point when I was supposed to be doing something else, I wanted to see how many layers I could handle before losing my mind (answer: 215), and producing something like Rodney's "memory wall" in "Unidentified" seemed like a good way to do it. Unlike the collages I do for textures, I wanted to try something that would have an identifiable (pun intended?) subject, and with everything--at least on the board, not so for the background elements--relating to each other. Pretty much every image on the board pertains in some way to Rodney and his interests: his friends, places he might have been or should go some day, science fiction stuff, cool physics things, a photo of Johnny Cash that John probably put there at one point for purposes of antagonism.



2: I suppose this is really only noir-inspired; I tried to adapt some of my fonts (I think this is Futural) to 40s/50s-style typefaces, and the coloring is mostly monochrome to mimick the greyscale-sort of atmosphere from the classic films. If this was really properly 1940s noir, I guess it should be hand-drawn and painted, but in the absence of mad drawing skillz, I borrowed a heavily-desaturated and erased John from a Nantucket piece for a placeholder. Like the story that might eventually go with it, it's just a battered, lousy pulp paperback, complete with coffee stain and folds in the corners.

Now that I feel a bit less like I'm falling over myself, I might actually be able to do decent stuff for [livejournal.com profile] paintedspires, which is a happy thing.

[identity profile] sheafrotherdon.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:34 am (UTC)(link)
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee oh oh I love the wall SO MUCH!! *is only capable of high pitched noises*

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
I put on earmuffs and hug you!

[identity profile] amberlynne.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:38 am (UTC)(link)
I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE THE WALL! It's so awesome!! I can't stop staring at it. And as if I didn't want the noir story bad enough, you have to go and be MORE AWESOME! *high-pitched happy noises*

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
The noir story has something vaguely resembling a plot now! Vaguely, but still!

[identity profile] stillwaters11.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, man! I especially love the art for Unidentified, and that wall is incredible!

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you!! I'm so happy you liked it :)

[identity profile] clear-as-blood.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
I love these. Especially Rodney's memory wall. Also, 215 layers? That's beyond insane. I'm lazy and stupid so I always merge everything and work from there. (But then when I mess up I have do everything over and I cry a little).

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
(But then when I mess up I have do everything over and I cry a little)

:/ :/ I merged the background because it was getting a bit ridiculous, but everything was constantly moving around... I would have had to start over at least a zillion times. At least XD

*cries at the very thought*

[identity profile] dogeared.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
The wall piece is AMAZING! I think it's the coolest thing, and just utterly, utterly brilliant. :D *squishes Rodney lots and lots*

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
*hugs you up!* Thank you Jenns!!
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[identity profile] beeej.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:48 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. My. God. You are so made of win. ^:)^

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
*hugs you and makes out with your icon!*

[identity profile] madeline871.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
Good gravy, all those layers and you're still sane. It's gorgeous. Both of the pieces are. I really love all your work.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
If it had been 216, I would be posting this from the padded room, I think :D

Thank you so much!
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[identity profile] tty63.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
Awesome. Very very very very awesome. (215 layers??? You're insane, but in a good way. :)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you kindly!

You're insane, but in a good way.

You say that, but then I show up at your place around midnight, wearing a chicken suit.

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aurora: (Default)

[personal profile] aurora 2008-03-23 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
Omg I love the wall! (Batman. <333)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Golden Age Batman, no less :D

[identity profile] unamaga.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
fj;aoiwmklgnao;wjfi, *incoherent gibbers!* that is just so gorgeous. wow.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you thank you thank you! :)

[identity profile] toft-froggy.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:33 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, those are seriously beautiful. The Noir one is really striking, I love the graininess and the silhouettes and the coffee stain and the typeface. The wall on the first one looks fantastic, too, you've put it together so well.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! The noir one was a lot of fun to do (amd is still, I guess, as it's still drafty), because I've never really done genre-type art before... Outside of Treed Murray, though, there is a sad lack of David Hewlett in long overcoats, and there is in general a sad lack of rolled-up shirtsleeves and fedoras as related either to him or Joe Flanigan.

*sighs*

[identity profile] rilestar.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
jesusjosephandmary! That is some truly impressive work!

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much!! They were both fun to work on :)

[identity profile] incidental-fire.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
Wow. Just. Wow. They're both marvelous, but that wall is just astonishingly beautiful. I think I may have to take that cover and use it as a desktop wallpaper, it's just too pretty to only look at once.

And I am glad you didn't actually drive yourself crazy, I'm looking forward to what you make for [livejournal.com profile] paintedspires! :)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much!! A couple more layers and I may well have gone over the edge :) And I'm very excited about [livejournal.com profile] paintedspires... I have my prompt and a couple ideas, so we will see how it all works out!

[identity profile] cathalin.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:52 am (UTC)(link)
Oh. My. God. Both of these are just - *flails*. I seriously admire anyone with visual artistic talent, and these are incredible.

The Wall is *amazing* and makes me want to read that amazing story all over again, again.:) I can't even imagine the time and effort that went into making this, and it's perfect - perfectly evocative, and also aesthetically just gorgeous.

Wow. Definitely something to stare at over and over!

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
Aww, thank you so much! Most of the effort in the The Wall went into doing the same thing over and over again, and trying to remember what things were and where they were because I had to move stuff all the time. Fortunately, I'm good and things that are mindless and repetitive :D
celli: a woman and a man holding hands, captioned "i treasure" (Default)

[personal profile] celli 2008-03-23 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Dude, AWESOME.

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
\o/ Thank you very kindly!!

[identity profile] blackchaps.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
*bows down before The Wall*

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, Rodney likes that. Keep doing it :D

[identity profile] rissabby.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 05:52 am (UTC)(link)
Brilliant Wall of Rodney.
I wish it was a huge mural on my bedroom wall. (-yearns and covets-)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! I would not mind having some of that wall myself... One of the fun parts of working on it was being able to look at lots and lots of very pretty pictures :)

[identity profile] tardis80.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 05:55 am (UTC)(link)
You are so awesome, dear. Really. I lovelovelove the wall. The details! I could look and look and keep on finding new things! The colors! And the noir paperback cover looks very simple and stark and cool. I would read that book :D

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Yay, thank you so much!!! The noir cover was very fun... I hope the story turns out as noirish :) :)

[identity profile] fiercelydreamed.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 06:31 am (UTC)(link)
... oh my god. Just. Oh my god.

*stares for a long, long time*

You made The Wall. You are a brilliant, brilliant, insane person and you made The Wall. When I got Cate's email telling me you were posting a piece of Unidentified art, I clicked over with my mind already tuned to the station of your usual style (which I adore, or I wouldn't have a mental station for it -- you've got a way with atmosphere and texture that I love), and then this --!!111!

Jesus. Uh, anytime you feel the need to experiment with your art style, please feel free to riff on my stories. I don't mind at all. And by "don't mind," I mean, looking at this gives me honest-to-god chills.

Could I possibly trouble you for a high-res version of this? Beyond the fact that I just want to zoom all the way in and stare for hours, I've got a couple of Unidentified-related things going up soon (DVD commentary and a deleted scene, shhh), and I would love to be able to upload this to my webspace and link to it alongside them. I'm sevenspeedflight [at] gmail.

Oh, and btw, the noir cover is the kind of thing that would snag me like a siren song and seduce me to take the book home from the library.

[identity profile] fiercelydreamed.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 06:32 am (UTC)(link)
ETA, because I somehow managed not to say it in with all the dumbstruck up there: thank you. It's amazing to see a piece of my story filled out suddenly into full color and life like this.

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[identity profile] tropes.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
These are so beautiful. But I think of 'Unidentified' and I tear up. Every time. *clings*

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 03:26 pm (UTC)(link)
*clings to you!*

[identity profile] aretria.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 07:31 am (UTC)(link)
Both are incredible. :)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 03:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! I'm happy you like them :)
siria: (Default)

[personal profile] siria 2008-03-23 08:59 am (UTC)(link)
215 layers? :O I bow before your audacious insanity :O That is amazing. And the noir cover is just so spiffy!

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
It is many, many layers! A lot more than it sounds :|

Come to think of it, it may be possible that "215" in Photoshop equals "billions and billions" in other venues.

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[identity profile] fractalreality.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
Those are awesome.

I spent ages looking at all the different photos on the memory wall instead of working

I love noir; I always hoped for an utterly hilarious Maltese Falcon-type story with John and Rodney...

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much! I'm always happy to assist in work avoidance :D

I always hoped for an utterly hilarious Maltese Falcon-type story with John and Rodney...

The story I'm picking at right now riffs a bit on Maltese Falcon. John is the dame, which I never fail to find amusing.

[identity profile] maxinemayer.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I love both of these - what great work you do - but my fav is the noir book cover! It just grabs me - I'd add this to my pile at the library or bookstore in a New York minute!

Happy Easter season and Happy Spring!
Love, max
P.S. - Waiting patiently to read the noir story.... Grins!

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 02:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so very much! I think the noir would be good vacation reading... the kind you pick up at the last minute, read, and then leave on the beach or in the airport for someone else to pick up.

If you are observant, happy Easter!!

PS: it's coming very, very slowly! XD
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[identity profile] from-the-corner.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 03:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Both are absolutely amazing. But the wall is just breathtaking :)

[identity profile] aesc.livejournal.com 2008-03-23 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Thank you so much!! I'm thrilled you like them :) :)

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