Archive for the ‘Sea Creatures’ Category
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
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 »
Salted Squid 2
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Salted Squid 2 by Amy Crook, $323
Tentacle Tuesday is back with a sequel to the whimsical Salted Squid 1. I wanted to do something more controlled, so I scribbled out a complete squid in green pen and then went over it with water and a brush, and sprinkled the resulting pool with salt. You can see the pen lines still there as darker shadows in the larger shape, and so I decided to stay with that pen-and-ink feeling for the background.
I used two different colors of pen on the background to simulate sunlight shining down fro above, and then left blank circles like bubbles rising up. Then, I used plain water again, this time without the salt, to give a soft, watercolor feeling to the shafts of sunlight, and the darker depths at the bottom.
Salted Squid 2, 7″x5″ salt, pen and ink on watercolor paper, $323, framed, with free shipping.
You can see the even layer of sparkling crystals that make up the body of the squid here, along with some detail on the close pen-and-ink lines.
Salted Squid 2, detail, by Amy Crook
The black frame with its glass gives the feeling of looking into an aquarium, or so I like to tell myself. He looks adorable on my bookshelf, anyway.
Salted Squid 2, framed, by Amy Crook, $323
Tags: crosshatching, for sale, pen and ink, salt, squid, tentacles
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Series and Books, Shop - Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles | No Comments »
Evil Fishie sketch
Saturday, August 13th, 2011
Evil Fishie sketch by Amy Crook
I managed a sketch for Saturday, whee! I realized that a lot of what I sketch is the preliminary drawings for things I’d rather post finished, so that’s why I never seem to have any sketches for my Saturday posts. This guy seems rather Lovecraftian to me, perhaps I can do a properly inked version of him of I do another coloring book sometime.
Tags: fish, lovecraft, nfs, pencil
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things | No Comments »
Dance of the Octopi – Fabric!
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
Dance of the Octopi fabric by Amy Crook
You may remember a while back I posted a design called Dance of the Octopi and contemplated how it would make good wallpaper or fabric pattern? Well, I’ve finally gotten around to putting it up on Spoonflower for sale! You can see my little sample above, which is a fat quarter of unironed quilting weight (I don’t own an iron, haha) gathered into a pretty swath for the photo.
I love the dreamy, blue and purple creatures and vibrant green seaweed against the soft blue background, and am still contemplating whether I want to get a few yards and try to sew myself a tentaclicious pair of pajama pants. I suppose I’d have to buy an iron, though…
Tags: fabric, fish, jellyfish, octopus, squid
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange | 2 Comments »
Salted Squid 1
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Salted Squid 1, art by Amy Crook, $69
More of my experiments with making salt into Actual Things, we have a happy little squid! He’s got his feeder tentacles tucked away, but you can count all 8 arms waving cheerily at you from out of the blue. He’s surrounded by colorful coral, or maybe iridescent bubbles, made using salt that had acquired a coat of paint from other pieces and then been saved. The squid is faintly green, but there was a lot of him to spread out a little bit of watercolor pigment, so you’ll have to forgive his pale complexion.
Salted Squid 1, 5.5″x4.25″ mixed media on paper, $69 with free shipping.
You can see below how the paper gained some fascinating texture in the places where the salt pools formed — that’s because sometimes the salt crystals form inside the paper instead of on top.
Salted Squid 1, detail, by Amy Crook
This cutie insisted to me that he doesn’t need a frame to be awesome, and I’m inclined to agree — the paper’s got a bit of a curve, and it tucks quite nicely onto a shelf. He enjoyed hanging out with my duckies so much, I’ve left him there for the moment. These days I make so much art that I keep swapping out what’s on display.
Salted Squid 1, in situ, by Amy Crook, $69
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, salt, squid, tentacles, watercolor
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Series and Books, Shop - Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Shop - Whimsical and Strange, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange | 1 Comment »
Not My Squidhole!
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Not My Squidhole! by Amy Crook
Something a little silly for your tentacle Tuesday — squid meets monster. It’s not true love. Sad.
Tags: nfs, pen and ink, squid, tentacles
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Tentacles | No Comments »
3 Squid and a Mouse
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
3 Squid and a Mouse, sketches by Amy Crook
I was considering squid for a painting I eventually left abstract, but these guys got doodled up while I was contemplating how to add the squid in without disrupting the flow of the piece. It’s also part of my tiny emerging practice of doing some sketching in pen, without the crutch of my eraser
3 Squid and a Mouse, pen and ink on scratch paper, not for sale.
Tags: nfs, pen and ink, sketch, squid
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Tentacles | 4 Comments »
More Art This Way »
