Fandom: Harry Potter
Characters/Pairings: Severus Snape/Kingsley Shacklebolt
Media: pencil, fine liner pen with waterproof indian ink, acrylic paint, a tiny bit of white conté chalk
Notes: I’ve already illustrated the epilogue of this story a while back, but always wanted to draw this Snape/Shacklebolt scene in the alley. Now, with barely two years delay, I got around to it. The relevant bit from Beth’s In From the Cold is: “Severus loosened his grip on Kingsley’s shoulders and slid his hands down Kingsley’s arms. He stopped when he reached the ends of Kingsley’s sleeves, encircled Kingsley’s strong-boned wrists with his fingers, then pulled Kingsley’s arms up over his head. Severus transferred his hold of Kingsley’s right wrist so that both of Kingsley’s hands were pinned against the brick wall by one of his own, then Severus slowly lowered his other hand until it came to rest on the top of Kingsley’s head.

Severus ghosted his long, sensitive fingers over Kingsley’s scalp, surprised by each tiny bump and dip in what seemed perfectly smooth from a distance. He slid his hand down along the side of Kingsley’s head, and he could feel Kingsley lean into his palm while Severus traced along the edge of Kingsley’s ear with his thumb, clicking his thumbnail softly against the small silver hoop that hung from the lobe. Severus leaned in and took the earring in his mouth, turning the hoop slowly with his tongue.”

illustration of the Snape/Shacklebolt alley scene, initial pencil drawing — screen resolution (ca. 308k)
illustration of the Snape/Shacklebolt alley scene, inks — screen resolution (ca. 304k)
illustration of the Snape/Shacklebolt alley scene, finished image — screen resolution (ca. 320k)
illustration of the Snape/Shacklebolt alley scene, detail — high resolution (ca. 222k)

I’ve also written some commentary on drawing this picture with scans and photos of the inbetween stages.