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Year of the Water Dragon

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

Year of the Water Dragon by Amy Crook, $299

2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon in Chinese astrology, and once again I’ve done an oil painting to celebrate.

When I was talking with Georgia Stathis about ideas for the 2012 Starcycles Calendar cover, we wanted to have the two dragons passing without overly referencing the yin yang sort of shape one often sees, so instead there’s a second dragon in the background, and our charming fellow grinning from behind the wall. I went with a very painterly style this time, not wanting to let myself get drawn into fussy details, and I think the simple shapes of coral, wall, sinuous dragon and deepening water work well together as a result.

Year of the Water Dragon, 12″x9″ oil on art panel, $299 with free shipping.

The sharp angle in the ruins represents a big planetary square starting in the year 2012, and as you can see below I added in the glyphs for the planets (Pluto and Uranus) with Photoshop, along with all the pertinent details to make the painting into a proper book cover.

2012 Starcycles Calendar cover by Amy Crook

Tags: all rights reserved, commission, coral, dragon, for sale, oil painting, ruins, starcycles, water
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Shop - Sea Creatures and Other Animals | No Comments »

Mapping Your Thing

Wednesday, July 27th, 2011

Fairytale Path by Amy Crook, for Tara Swiger's Map-Making Guide

I have to admit I was utterly thrilled when Tara Swiger.* asked me to paint a path for her latest awesome product, the Map-Making Guide*. After some back-and-forth discussion, she ended up commissioning the path itself, and a page of fairytale-related dingbats to go with it. The purple fuzzy monster is even a bit weeble-y, so when he wanted to be posted on a Wednesday, I went with it.

I sketched up the path itself, and then after her enthusiastic approval, painted in the wandering curve, leaving plenty of white space around it for writing, and playing. Then I had fun drawing all the things I could think of to decorate it, most of which you can see here. The extra curve of path is for those whose ambitions sometimes require a detour, for instance, and there’s a dragon and fuzzy monster to represent the scary obstacles along the way. A pot of gold awaits those for whom that’s part of the goal, as well as a castle.

I had a lot of fun printing off a sample page and cutting out all the bits to play with, though I have to admit that I haven’t made it all the way through making my own Map yet. I’m thinking of making myself a page of pennants and banners to act as mile-markers, though I’m also tempted to get some of those Post-It flags for the same purpose. I’ve always wanted an excuse to buy some!

If you’ve got a goal and you’re a bit fuzzy on how to get from Point A to Point B, think about giving Tara’s Map-Making Guide* a try! Just doing Step 1 (spoiler: it’s “define Point A & Point B”) has been a great help in focusing my efforts.

“Working on the map with Amy was fantastic. I came to her while the idea was still just an unformed thought. Not only did she totally NAIL what I only vaguely described, she also helped me think it through. She turned my ideas into actual, visual products and delighted me beyond belief.”
-Tara Swiger

If you’re interested in working with me on an illustration, just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to give you a price quote and timeline estimate.

*Disclosure: I’m using affiliate links! If you buy it, I will get a few dollars. This will make us all happy.

Tags: commission, dragon, map, monster, tara swiger, watercolor
Posted in Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes | 1 Comment »

Sketch Sale Wrapup

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

The last two sketches from my May sketch sale are of people rather than characters.

Happy Father's Day sketch by Amy Crook, all rights reserved

Jennifer Hoesing wanted a sketch of her husband and their new baby to commemorate their first Father’s Day.

Nathan Briggs sketch by Amy Crook, all rights reserved

And Nathan Briggs wanted to see a cartoon of himself.

I think I ought to do a cartoon of me in this style, or the refined version thereof anyway, so I can add it to the Be a Cartoon page options.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the sale!

Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, commission, nathan briggs, nfs, pen and ink
Posted in Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces | No Comments »

Delight Gremlin

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

The charming Chris Anthony is has recently re-branded his business as The Delightworks! As part of his new thing, he’s planning to sneak in some easter eggs throughout the site, so he asked me to do a cartoon for him. Instead of drawing him, which I’ve already done, he asked me to draw what I imagined his little gremlin might look like from the front. If you’re not sure where the original is, it’s hiding out on his home page, just keep looking.

He’s not quite a weeble, but I figured he was cute enough for a Wednesday, anyway.

Want a cartoon of your own? Get one here.

Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, commission, copic markers, nfs, pen and ink
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art | No Comments »

Nefarious Parent

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

Nefarious Parent by Amy Crook

When my friend Bkwyrm approached me to ask about doing a logo for her new forum for parents with an occult bent, Parentes Nefarii, we tossed back and forth a couple of ideas. In the end, we decided that her budget and needs were best suited to a cartoon — but not of her. This weeble cultist (yep, Weeble Wednesday is back!) is carrying a rather dubious-looking baby, from tentacles to horns.

The innocent baby-blonde curl of hair really makes it for me, especially contrasted with the bald cultist and his bluer-than-blue eyes.

Nefarious Parent, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic Marker on watercolor paper, not for sale (commission). This, and all my other commissions, aren’t for free use per the Creative Commons license below — all rights are reserved for the commissioner*.

*And the Commissioner always has Batman on his/her side.

Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, commission, copic markers, cultist, nfs, pen and ink, tentacle, weeble
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Tentacles | No Comments »

Starship Craftybiz 01A

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Starship Craftybiz 01A by Amy Crook (commission)

I couldn’t help but be excited when Tara Swiger, one of my favorite smart people on the internet, asked me to help draw up a starship to help represent her awesome new thing. We talked a little bit about what she was going for, and since she wanted to use it for a bunch of smallish stuff on the internet (like the button below), we decided to go for a combination of coloring book and technical drawing — not too much detail, but with a definite “drawing board” feeling that works with her program.

I got an Early Boarding Pass to the Craftybiz Starship Adventure because I’d taken a lot of her classes and found them really helpful to me, as I’ve begun to build my own business (and especially my Etsy shop). She concentrates on things like figuring out your pricing, where and what to sell, and who to sell it to (hint: it’s people who want your unique thing and have money for it), and leaves the technical business details for others. And yes, all these snazzy links are affiliate links, which means I get a percentage, but I’d give her a glowing review anyway — Tara’s just that cool.

Also, she was an amazing client to work with, clear on what she wanted and good at conveying it, and enthusiastic over the results. A win for everyone!

“Working with Amy was so much easier than I could have hoped for. I was nervous, because this she’s the first illustrator I’ve ever hired. But the process was simple, her illustration was spot on what I had requested, and she made me feel comfortable through the entire thing. Oh, and it was speedy! I had a short window and Amy didn’t leave me waiting.

“Thanks Amy, for making this adventure full of ease and downright fun, I’ll definitely be back for more!”

-Tara Swiger

Here’s the most excellent button she made out of her starship (see how well it shrunk?), and yes, yet another affiliate link:

Thanks for the Sketches!

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

My little sketch sale was a success – I had a lot of fun doing a bunch of quickie art pieces, and I still have two left to go. I even sold most of the sample pieces I did, so I’m quite pleased overall. If you missed it, there’ll likely be a repeat again around the holidays. I’ve been told they make lovely gifts.