Holly the Organized Elf
Posted on December 18th, 2013
Holly the Organized Elf, a comic commission
for Beverly Army Williams by Amy Crook
When Beverly approached me to draw her an Organized Elf, at first I had a totally different image in mind. But she sent me some great answers and with a little bit of googling, we got our mental images to match. Holly is the mascot for Beverly’s excellent year-long Organized Elf Project, helping to keep you as organized as she is from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. Peace, not perfectionism!
Holly was really fun for me to draw, because I had carte blanche to put whatever oddities seemed to fit in her holiday kit. So, I decided on one of those fabric-lined craft project baskets, on which we put a lovely silver monogrammed plate, and then stuffed it with knitting, wintery fabric, sewing accessories, and even an emergency snowflake template. Because every elf has snowflake emergencies, right?
Beverly sent me the sweetest testimonial, which she’s letting me share with you:
“If we had worked together in person, in the same room, it would have looked something like this:
Me (waving hands in air): I see an elf. An elegant, swank elf. She’s organized. And pretty.
Amy: Here are ten questions to help you get more specific. I want to create your vision.
Me (studiously answers questions): Like this?
Amy: wonderful! (sketches) Does she look like your Organized Elf?
Me: You are amazing. She’s even better than I imagined. (hugs Amy. Kisses sketch.)
The reality is that we worked via email. Still, the process was that easy—I made some big sweeping statements about the ideas I had, Amy asked specific, thought-provoking questions, and from my answers, she sketched, inked, and colored a beautiful illustration that really is beyond what I imagined.
Amy’s professionalism is unparalleled; she meets (well ahead of time) the deadlines she set, and she is straightforward about what to expect. I can’t wait for another reason to work with her!”
If you’d like an illustration of your very own, email me to get started!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, beverly army williams, commission, elf, holiday, nfs, pen and ink
Belladonna
Posted on December 16th, 2013
this is a sight I often wake up to.
it does not encourage me to get out of bed and start my day.
Belladonna is my third-ever cat (Pod‘s the fourth), and she’s been with me for over a decade now. She’s moved smoothly into her grumpy old lady stage, and wears it well. Her coloring is called “diluted tortoiseshell,” which is like the tortoiseshell calico but with the copier toner wearing out, so she’s grey, peach, and cream instead of black, orange, and white.
I met her at one of those PetSmart kitten days, when she shamelessly fell asleep while I was holding her, and that was pretty much it. She had to go back to the vet to get fixed, and then she was mine! She’s never gotten cuddly with other cats — I think her happiest time was the brief few years she was queen of the castle and living alone with me in this apartment — but having Pod to chase has helped keep her fit.
She broke a tooth a few years ago, and so she’s got a whole range of disdainful faces she can make at him. And me. It’s kind of awesome. She also glares balefully at me whenever she’s being petted and purring, especially when she’s spent the past five minutes pestering me until I stop typing to pet her. Because cat.
this is her purring face.
Categories: Words Words Words
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Pteropodidae
Posted on December 11th, 2013
the view when I came to bed
This cat came to me in November of 2008, two weeks after Halloween*. One of my design clients found him outside her office, took him to the vet for tests, and then started driving to my apartment before she thought to call me and make sure I wanted a kitten. His full name is Pteropodidae, the family name for fruit bats, because of the giant ears. He is of the cat clan McFucker, always getting into things and perpetrating fuckery on my other cat, Belladonna. If you’re a cat person, you know the type.
Pod’s nicknames are legion, including Poddles, Poddleston, Poddington, Podsworth, Podling, Butthead, Stinkerbelle. He’s got sleek, silky fur that makes excellent hairballs, and the skinniest tail I’ve ever seen on a furry cat. He’s never found a dairy product he doesn’t like, and he’s very vocal if he thinks he hasn’t had enough cheese today.** He’s the one that cuddles up to me in the night, so I wake up to find he’s made himself the little spoon, all snuggled up in the curl of my body. He will tuck himself into the bed for his afternoon nap in protest of inclement weather, which is what he was doing when I took the above photo.
Below, you can see him on the first day he was here. It took him all of an hour to start drinking out of my water glass, because he is a fucker. But I love him, and he’s good*** for Belladonna, who is grumpier but less tubby since she got someone to chase irritably around the apartment.
just look at those ears
* we’re pretty sure he was someone’s unwanted Halloween present, he was very tame and the vet said he seemed abandoned and starving rather than feral
** there is no such thing as enough cheese
*** for certain values of good
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: pod, words
3 Comments »
Fairy Flower
Posted on December 7th, 2013
Fairy Flower by Amy Crook
Our week of the Floating Gallery is almost over! It closes Sunday night, and all the art floats away, leaving me to relax and enjoy my holiday season.
As part of my long month of working on the sequel to The Courtship of Julian St. Albans, I decided to do an illustration for the cover. There’s a lot of plants in the second book, but the fairy flowers feature in both of them, and I wanted to give a visual to them.
They’re described as a common flower, so I wanted something that reminded me of the wildflowers I picked as a kid, but that had a bit of magical whimsy to them. You can just imagine the butterfly fairies that are attracted to these little blossoms, giving luck to your home as a reward for letting them grow.
Fairy Flowers, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Fairy Flower, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the flower’s five fat little petals, and the way the purple ink wanted to bleed out past the lines. Tricksy blending. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with Horace, the bird from the cover of the first book.
Fairy Flower & Horace, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: apprenticeship, consulting magic, copic marker, for sale, i made this, julian st albans, pen and ink
2 Comments »
Exit Strategy
Posted on December 6th, 2013
Exit Strategy, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Go out of the week with a bang! This image is like a brilliant sun with vibrant, rich colours and shimmering Duochrome Autumn Mystery forming licks of fire and spattering explosions. Like a bullet through an apple, there’s and entry and a bigger, messier exit.
This explosive piece of art could brighten up a corner of your home with its mix of rich matte Japanese paints and the shimmering red-orange-gold of the duochrome paint, but only until Sunday when the Floating Gallery closes up shop once again.
Exit Strategy, 5″x5″ Japanese and duochrome watercolor on watercolor paper.
Exit Strategy, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the shiny paint catching the light and turning from red to gold. Below, you can see it in a frame, small enough to tuck into a little corner or fit on a desk, adding a bit of vibrant interest.
Exit Strategy, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, orange, watercolor, yellow
1 Comment »
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?
Posted on December 5th, 2013
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who? by Amy Crook
It’s Thursday of this December Floating Gallery week, and today I have an actual still life for you. I have a lot of nifty things, knickknacks and props and oddities, and I thought it would be fun to use some of them to explore the idea of a still life.
A lot of things we’re fans of evolve over time, reboot themselves, or just make changes, so it’s interesting to me to also see this as a reflection of the way our own love for things evolves with them. I have the 10th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver prop because that’s when I was interested enough to get one, but then the show’s moved on and the prop itself is only still current because of the 50th anniversary special.
This painting started with the deliberately loose, wobbly pen-and-ink outlines, and then it sat for a long time until finally I was inspired by The Day of the Doctor to finish it. I even added a little homage to the white paper in the foreground to help fill the big empty space.
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?, 8″x8″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the sonic screwdriver and its soft blue glow. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, ready to bring a little grown-up fandom to your walls.
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: doctor who, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor
Five for Silver
Posted on December 3rd, 2013
Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook
Tuesday seems like a good day for some crows flying through the gloaming. The moon has risen early, gibbous and pale above the evergreens. Soft clouds curl and five black birds fade ghostlike into the shimmering twilight sky.
This is a mix of very different paints that all fall under “watercolor,” with the trees done in pine-scented Christmas paint, the sky textured layers of shimmering Iridescent Moonstone, the moon made of opaque Japanese watercolor, and the birds a translucent black.
Five for Silver, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the delicate shimmer on the sky, and the painterly brush strokes in the trees and birds. Below, I have it temporarily matted into a frame so you can get a feel for the unusual size.
Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, iridescent, moon, more cowbell, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
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