Supernatural Summer Artist Highlight: carpedzem
Two years ago I had the incredible fortune of being paired in @cssns with the incomparable @carpedzem. The idea I had for my fic was a bizarre one, half-baked and cobbled together from about three different prompts, but Nat took the disjointed ramblings I sent her and absolutely ran with them. We had discussions about the style of the windows in Emma’s dorm room, what poster should be on the wall (the S1 OUAT was her idea!), Nat turned Emma’s iconic red leather jacket into a red cape perfect for a fae princess, and she rendered the witch hat I showed her with absolute perfection.
She also brought in two details that became crucial to the story. The first was the plant that she drew beautifully from a very vague description--so beautifully that it inspired Harriet, Emma’s semi-sentient leafy vine who immediately became a reader favourite and even has her own protection society, helmed by @optomisticgirl. The second detail was the purple amulet Emma wears. This inspired the tywyll stone, the central macguffin of the story and the driving force of its plot. Without Nat’s imagination and skill and all the tiny, thoughtful details that she included in her art the story that is now The Eternal and Unseen could never have been what it became.
What I'm saying is, it was an amazing collaboration and one of my fondest memories of the CS fandom.
CSSNS 2022 needs more artists! If you are artistically inclined in any way I hope you’ll sign up. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to work with an author, to combine your efforts and produce something neither of you could have done on your own. It is genuinely one of the best experiences in fandom.
Artist sign-up form is HERE.
The Eternal and Unseen is HERE.
Nat’s brilliant artwork is HERE:
(I will never be able to look at this and not think how brilliant it is. I know, because I printed it out and it’s hanging now just above my laptop. Every day I look at it and think, this is freaking brilliant)
