Archive for the ‘Pretty Words’ Category

Patreon Headers & Tiers

Thursday, March 10th, 2022

I decided to lean into the cat sketch life along with a refresh of my Patreon page this year! I redid the tiers and gave them all-new art, and made headers for all of my monthly posts. Check it out on the page, and enjoy the weird originals below!

cat sketch cards and a bonus sticker by Amy Crook

The original on the House Cat tier is long gone, but I did all-new sketch cards for the other 4! From the top left:

  • Snow Leopard ($25)
  • Pallas Cat ($10)
  • Kitten ($3)
  • Voidcat ($100)
  • House Cat ($5) sticker from last quarter’s swag rewards

I had fun exploring different styles for the different tiers, though next time perhaps I’ll stick to one style, haha.

Patreon header sketch cards by Amy Crook

I made a whole posting schedule for myself to spread out the goodies and keep from losing track of time, and so far it’s been great on my end. You’d have to ask my supporters how they’re enjoying it, but hey, every post comes with a cat photo as well as the fancy header art!

From the top left:

  • Art Works in Progress ft. Mal
  • Art WIP lettering, some of which also shows up in the Writing header
  • Sketch Requests (with alternate q) ft. Pod
  • Writing Works in Progress ft. Raccoon
  • Poll ft. Pod’s paw
  • Art Vault (oddly catless)

There’s also a monthly sketch card post for the finished requests from the previous month, but so far I haven’t done a header for that — the cards are the art on that post, after all!

Patreon is an easy way to support your artist for a small monthly donation, and you can get wallpapers, sketch requests, stickers and swag, dibs on new works of art, and of course a cavalcade of cat pics!

Categories: Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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2021 48-hour Sketch Card Weekend

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

48 hours, 24 sketch cards

It’s all Danielle Corsetto’s fault.

The bright young perky things of comics do an annual 24hr comic, but Danielle is also moving into the Old and Tired phase of life and wanted a little more space, and also to expand the challenge to non-comics people. So, her version was to take the weekend, 48 hours, and do 24 of something — I chose sketch cards! And I actually did it, which was pretty awesome.

A lot of these are catch-up for the previous months on Patreon, from which I owed oh so many cards, but also just doing some for the heck of it.

You can see all the original posts here on Patreon, they’re public and have tired commentary to go with them: https://www.patreon.com/amysnotdeadyet/posts?filters%5Btag%5D=48hcw

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

First batch, all marker all the time. From top left:

  • Corinne wanted a tiktok memed into Stuckony, lol
  • Amber asked for “backyard kiddie pool” and oops got a kitty pool
  • Rey asked for “Science Says Chill” and got his fancy word art
  • And some lineless, sketchless halloween candy for feeding my own heart!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Second batch, playing with Copic markers and ink on Yupo substrate. From the top left:

  • abstract play with liquid ink directly onto paper, no pen required
  • spooky ghost
  • skull with a crown
  • goldfishy!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Markers, pencils, and your artist getting tired. From top left:

  • Amy B asked for “summer witch vibes” and got this homage to Goths in Hot Weather (sold)
  • Jeff asked for Print Nightmare, which is apparently a real Windows exploit, because of course it is (sold)
  • Jeff ALSO asked for Roy Kent, which was honestly a fucking delight (sold)
  • Deandra asked for something from To Hive & To Hold, and I did a scribbly pencil sketch of Meadowsweet snoozing on Arthur

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Day 2, switching media. Watercolor! From the top left:

  • Bucky with tats, gift art for a Halloween thing (which is why this post is locked)
  • a mixed media abstract that i started yesterday and finished today
  • magic wands for Eric (sold)
  • fishy!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

A trio of trees and a very special birb against the moon. Who’s that Pokémon?

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Last ones! From the top left:

  • blobcat for the end, because two others are drying overnight for finishing later
  • purple abstract, because I can
  • Eric asked for “salt” and got this almost-dry abstract in his favorite blue & gold
  • Fairytale Sky! Remember that series? Have another.

I took pics when I started each say… as you can see watercolor day is a lot more involved.

Batching them in fours and taking a lot of breaks really helped, and man could I tell I’d been doing my physical therapy. My neck was almost not mad about it at the end, and is basically healed other than the ongoing problems from my terrible art gremlin posture. I have managed to somehow loosen my right shoulder in its socket, however, so I’m back in PT starting this week. Yay? I also took a bunch of breaks on watercolor day to help Dan dye his hair blue, and we ran out of gloves so I had one very blue hand by the end, haha.

Thanks for coming along on the journey belatedly with me!

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Summer 2021 Patreon Sketches

Monday, February 21st, 2022

Sketch cards galore! I have so many that I haven’t posted here, sorry. Last year was full of overwhelm and catch-up and madness, and I’m finally starting to organize things back into a system I can function with.

These little baseball-card-sized sketches are called ACEO (artist card edition only) or sometimes ATC (artist trading card) if being traded around. I standardized all my sketches for Patreon supporters to this size, and it’s made life much easier for me in terms of starting friction. I have all the stuff to start sketching in one little pouch!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

From the top left:

  • Kim wanted to say no to summer, so she gets images of winter, instead!
  • the abstract dreams of a dying Medusa is for nobody in particular
  • Rebecca S wanted something for Pride, and gets this rainbow of DiversiTea
  • Eric wanted some beetroot and got some fun watercolor on Yupo substrate

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

From top down:

  • Amber asked for Time Flies
  • Jeff asked for “i can’t even right now”
  • Eric asked for the One Ring

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of
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The Sight of the Stars

Thursday, July 22nd, 2021

abstract art in the Aglow series by Amy Crook

The Sight of the Stars, 8″x10″ mixed media on metallic paper

Metallic photo paper makes a fascinating substrate, you can’t ever lift color once it’s put down. Instead, all the texture here is physical, soft body acrylic that rises above the paper in bumps and ridges formed by the brush strokes. On top of that a scattering of iridescent watercolor stars adds to the shine that already comes through the semi-translucent paint.

“The sight of the stars makes me dream.”
-Vincent Van Gogh

Sometimes I start an Aglow painting with words in mind, and sometimes I create the image and find words that go with it. I think this was the latter, but time is meaningless here in 2021 so who knows.

The Sight of the Stars, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of the textured paint and shiny paper catching the golden light overhead. Below, the painting is in a frame, waiting to be shipped off to its new home!

The Sight of the Stars, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Pretty Words, Series and Books
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Resonate

Tuesday, July 20th, 2021

Resonate by Amy Crook, small abstract art with the word resonate in the upper left corner

Resonate, 6″x4″ watercolor and tea on paper

This piece sprang from a long-lost art challenge: I took the 2 teabags out of my giant mug of tea and put them on the page to create random shapes. I left them out for a few hours, then tossed the tea and let the paper dry thoroughly, by which I mean didn’t work on it again for a couple of months.

This abstract has a feeling that makes me think of the drip of tea back into the cup, of the shape made by a splash of milk, of the way sounds or ideas reverberate in your head.

What resonates with you?

Resonate, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the mix of bronzite and gold and the subtle ways they sparkle against the soft, tea-stained paper. Below, this small painting sits in a frame, ready to help you resonate.

Resonate, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Pretty Words
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Concentric 10

Sunday, July 18th, 2021

Abstract purple art with bursts of concentric rings of dots over the words 'be kind'

Concentric 10, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper

This last half-year has had a lot of taking one thing and making it into another. A purple-washed background waiting to become art got the words “be kind” added in soft, subtle periwinkle. After another delay, bursts of shining dots finally blossomed into another addition to my Concentric series.

This tiny artwork has soothing shades of blue and purple and lovely lavender, hints of green and gold waiting to shine at the right angles.

This series is very meditative to paint, following my inner promptings to start a burst here, and then one there in that color, building up from the first dot to the last.

Concentric 10, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the three shades of color bursts, green-gold, dark purple, and ocean blue. Below, this small painting is framed and waiting to bring delight to some small nook or larger display of art.

Concentric 10, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Pretty Words, Series and Books
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April 2021 Patreon Sketch Cards

Wednesday, July 7th, 2021

Having standardized the sketch size to these pre-cut ATC/ACEO cards makes my life so much easier — they come in vellum for drawing, watercolor paper, and some cool new stuff like Yupo synthetic substrate. It gives me a lot of room for play! Which I did with several of these that weren’t for anyone specific, heh.

6 sketch cards by Amy Crook

From the top left:

  • Do Good Recklessly, a recent tumblr meme
  • Capybaras for Rebecca S
  • A wee Concentric doodle to play with some of my new watercolors
  • Bats and Mushrooms and Sun and idk man, sometimes you just gotta paint mushrooms I guess.
  • Purple dragon for Andria, who wanted to have a golden hoard of their very own, which was pretty easy since they are very wee
  • Amy B asked for a kitten and got a blobcat with a Christmas tree tail, which is a feature of kittens of a certain age that I find delightful. It has brought you a mouse toy like the mighty hunter it is, and is all fluffed up about it.

4 sketch cards by Amy Crook

From the top left:

  • Amber asked for “seasonal (holiday) allergies” and I may have chosen to tease her husband.
  • A is for Amy wants to play with her yupo paper some more.
  • Roxanne asked for Falcon & the Winter Solider and apparently this is what my brain wanted.
  • Rey asked for “conditionally huggable” and of course I had to draw a hedgehog.

I love my Patreon supporters with all my heart — thanks, you guys! You’re the best.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Completed Commissions, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Illuminated Alphabet, People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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