SWJP Big Bang 2025 - HAZARD - Artpost
She wrote an exciting and wonderful crime story with Jared at the center, for which I was allowed to create art. Thank you for the great collaboration, TammyRenH. 💚 Enjoy looking at the art and reading the story.
Now over a decade later, he's back in town to care for his ailing mother and there is a new detective assigned to Mary's now cold case--one very familiar to Jared.
Cover
Banner
Title card 1
Title card 2
Title card 3
Title card - Lineart
Lake crime scene
Jensen interrogates Jared
Jared's fingerprint card
Jared visits his girlfriend's grave
I was curious about the first ever SamWin JarPad Big Bang, which covers both SPN and SPN RPF and centers on Sam Winchester and/or Jared Padalecki. I immediately liked number 10 Hazard. Murder, suspects, pursuit and an innocent Jared. My muse had lots of ideas for this one. A short time later, I had successfully claimed Prompt 10.
Then I read the story and was totally thrilled.
I quickly grabbed a small notepad to jot down my initial ideas. Dark cover. Murder, night, lake, floater, murder suspect Jared, fingerprints. At the beginning the story is very dark and oppressive for Jared, which continues in his further development (prison). TammyRenH's suggestions - Jensen interrogating Jared in an interrogation room and Jared at Mary's grave - could be depicted well in pictures. Fingerprints and distinctive fonts would complete the art set in chapter headings and text dividers.
TammyRenH has chosen a very fitting title for her story. HAZARD is a catchy, short title consisting of just one word. It is easy to remember, indicates the location of the action and simply stands out. I was able to use it to design the cover very well. Plenty of space for art alongside an easy-to-read title with the author and artist's name.
I always look for a suitable font when designing art for a story.
I tried out several variations. TammyRenH and I decided on the last red lettering in uppercase. With the uneven edges, the lettering embodies uncertainty, fear and wavering emotions as well as sloppy police work. No one is safe, especially not Jared.
Red is associated with danger and death and immediately catches the eye. The font color is not blood red because Mary's murder was bloodless.
The patrol car pulls to a stop and a few seconds later Jared’s door is pulled open. Jared steps out of the patrol car, his legs complaining about being so cramped. They’re parked in the grass just outside the line of trees that almost fully surround the lake. He’s never been out here this late at night. The trees cast shadows that seem somehow kind of ominous. Jared shivers.
…
The path around the lake is smooth for a while, worn by thousands of visitors to the lake over who knows how many years. But as they make their way further around the lake, the path gets rockier and covered with branches and roots of trees. The path is uphill, so the lake becomes farther away the farther they walk. Very few people walk this far, which is why this is Mary’s and his place.They reach near the top of the hill and Jared points to a large willow tree close to the edge. This is where they go to be alone. In the summer, they are practically hidden by the leaves on the low-hanging branches. But when they emerge from their cocoon, they have a beautiful view of the lake, shimmering in all her glory several feet below them.
I was inspired by TammyRenH's descriptions for the cover. It is night. Clear as a star. The patrol cars are parked in the grass in front of the row of trees. The trees cast menacing shadows. Only after a long walk around the lake do the police officers and emergency services arrive at Jared and Mary's secret meeting place. From up there, they have a wonderful view of the shimmering lake ... and the corpse dimly lit by the moonlight.
The outline drawing above shows Jared and Jensen at their first meeting. Both are young, Jared is depressed by the traumatic course of his life.
I tested different shades of dark blue, harmonizing red and blue with the police car lights.
It's a Sam/Jared centered big bang. That's why Jared is bigger on the cover with a brighter color in the foreground.
Now I drew everything exactly. I chose the colors based on the following considerations and the previous color sketch. It's a crime story with murder and false accusations that continue into the present. I therefore kept the entire picture in dark shades of blue. The crime scene with the corpse can be seen at the bottom. Police cars are parked on the opposite shore with flashing blue and red lights, as the crime scene can only be reached by walking halfway around the lake. The title HAZARD divides the picture into two different scenes. It is arranged in red capital letters and a striking font almost in the middle. The fingerprint and Jared are in light blue. Jensen's outline is mid-blue (in the “shadow”), as he does not fully act until later in the story. The stars shine above the lake.
Then there was a problem with the corpse. Unlike in the draft, I had to turn the corpse from its back to its stomach. Because Mary could have been mistaken for a night swimmer beforehand. The scene on the cover didn't look like a gruesome corpse discovery. Now the woman's body is immediately recognizable as a corpse. The head is underwater, the hair (wet blonde hair is dark at night) floats around it, the limbs are limp, the black and pink plaid dress (wet fabric is also dark at night at a distance) floats on the waves.
The scene on the cover is now coherent and reflects the atmosphere of a crime story.
In this scene, the focus is on Jensen. Jared, seen from behind, tells his story. Jensen listens to him attentively and takes notes. His attitude is open. He doubts Jared's guilt.
This image made me think of an interrogation room with gray, tiled walls and a gray-blue door. This dreary, cold interrogation room was meant to reflect the negative atmosphere of police interrogations and Jared's own bad experiences in this place.
Is Jensen Jared's knight in shining armor? In any case, he is wearing a cream-colored shirt and a golden-brown jacket. The bright, warm colors make him look friendly.
Jared, on the other hand, wears a red shirt with narrow white stripes. His clothing is associated with danger and guilt. But it's also a normal work shirt, because Jared works as a cabinetmaker.
The fingerprint on the cover gave me the idea of using cut-outs from fingerprint cards for the dividers. One for the left hand and one for the right hand. That would go well with the story and round off the art set.
I needed ten different fingerprints for the cover as well as for the dividers and later for the fingerprint card. Pure hard work with black drawing paint. Then I colored them light blue for the cover and the chapter headings. I imitated different print thicknesses and stamp colors for the fingerprints on the card.
When drawing the fingerprint for the cover, I had the idea of also designing Jared's fingerprint card from his police file. Fingerprints represent crime, perpetrators, murder, police files and investigations. I looked at lots of references on the Internet and finally designed a fictitious card with Jared's details and fingerprints. The paper is already a bit yellowed, but everything is still clearly recognizable when Jensen reads his file.
The color scheme of the cover focuses on the colors light blue and red as well as dark shades of blue. I also used these colors for the chapter headings. The striking red font was also used again here, as well as the light blue fingerprint. The dark blue numbers are held in place by a staple, as is often used in police files. The whole thing is underlaid with a somewhat blurred blank fingerprint card. All in keeping with the overall concept.
In this picture, the focus is on Jared and the rose. Jared has finally been able to come to terms with his past and can now visit Mary's grave. Mary loved the color pink. That's why Jared has put on a white and pink striped shirt and brought a pink rose for her gravestone.
He says goodbye. The sun is shining. It is peaceful. Everything is finally going to be okay.
The background colors, the grey of the gravestones and Jared's jacket are kept in calm tones. Only the pink shirt and the rose stand out and automatically draw the viewer's attention to Jared. The button placket of Jared's shirt is not quite straight, his shirt and jacket collars are slightly askew and his hair is disheveled. This makes Jared look alive amidst the gravestones.
For the pre-announcement on Tumblr by the mods, I designed three square title cards in addition to the cover. They weren't supposed to give too much away and arouse the curiosity of Tumblr visitors. A banner was also added at the end of the SWJP BB.
