This year I signed up for the 2018 Dean/Cas Big Bang and was lucky enough to snag Superhoney’s story, Silver and Cold. Superhoney was an absolute delight to work with! I was drawn in by the description of Maine woods and the emphasis on isolation and snow and wolves… I’m a huge sucker for a case fic as well, and an ex-priest hunter Castiel? Clenches fists in excitement. This story is wonderful, and you’re going to be so glad you read it! Head on over to read Silver and Cold now.
Summary
The death of a young man in an apparent animal attack brings hunter Cas Novak to the small town of Sydnam, Maine. It doesn’t take long for him to realize he’s tracking a werewolf, but discovering the killer’s identity is no easy task. All signs point towards Dean Winchester, a lonely recluse who lives in the middle of the woods and whose antagonistic behaviour does little to lessen Cas’ suspicions.
As the investigation drags on, their mutual distrust gives way to a wary alliance. Cas’ instincts warn him that Dean is hiding something, but as he uncovers the man beneath the mystery, his professional interest becomes far more personal. Praying his faith in Dean isn’t misplaced, Cas races to catch the killer before the next full moon rises and another life is abruptly cut short.
The Cover
The cover is 5 layers of paper and cardstock, glued together into two separate groups and photographed in a shadowbox frame to add a little depth and shadow. The light was initially too warm, so I dropped a sheet of blue tissue paper between the light source and frame to cast blue light instead.
The Cabin
I loved the description of the cabin in this story. It’s a little spot of domesticity out in the wild woods. Castiel is wearing a warmer coat because it’s winter, so let’s all pretend it’s a nice thick camel hair wool so I can get away with using the trench colors.
LOOK AT THE WEE FLANNEL SHIRTS!
The Church
One of the reasons I wanted this story is because a scene it described included an abandoned church with stained glass windows. As much as I may run from it sometimes, I’ll probably never fully shake my fondness for churches as places of beauty and reverence. I loved the idea of making backlit windows for a church.
And speaking of windows… Clears throat and dons Sam’s flannel. So get this. I was doing a Google image search for St. Christopher and found an image of him with a wolf’s head. Everybody read this, and have your mind blown. Did the werewolf legend start with St. Christopher? I clearly had to riff on this idea for my own windows. On the left: sun windows and St. Christopher, the dude, carrying a child. On the right, moon windows and St. Christopher the wolf.
The nightmare
There’s a nightmare scene that’ll make your toes curl. This is my take on it. I had fun with the little flannels and the snarling wolf 🙂
Materials and Techniques
All of these are papercut pieces, taped to a deep picture frame, lit with desk lamps, and photographed. I used a precision blade to cut each piece and glued them together so they wouldn’t drift as I worked. Three of these pieces have some space between layers for an added dimension of shadow or space between them.
Here are some alternate and work-in-progress shots:
I hope you enjoyed these! Don’t forget to head over to read Superhoney’s Silver and Cold story. You’ll love it ❤
“— Or they’d try to have a movie night and whisper arguments back and forth at each other (which Sam had to stifle laughter at because it was utterly ridiculous watching how serious and frustrated they would get while Dean’s head was in Cas’ lap and their hands laced together) until Sam had to separate them by sitting between them, which only led to them arguing over or behind him. Sam couldn’t remember the last time he watched a movie start to finish and actually was able to pay attention to the entire thing.”
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