Whimsical and Strange « Antemortem Arts | Fine Art & Custom Paintings

Archive for the ‘Whimsical and Strange’ Category

Sunset Bees

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Sunset Bees by Amy Crook, $59

Somehow, when I don’t know what to paint, bees keep coming to mind! I suppose they do figure in two things I love quite a bit, Winnie-the-Pooh and Sherlock Holmes. Who can forget “In Which We are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Stories Begin”? And Holmes’ desire to retire to Sussex and keep bees is equally famous, though in the modern day I keep wanting to see him take up urban beekeeping instead and have box-hives on the roof.

This painting was a bit of an experiment with using watercolor ground to prime over the gesso on the canvas, and then using watercolors for the painting. The color tended to sink into the grooves and dry pale, which gives the sky a dreamy feeling of a sunset seen obliquely through the branches, and the bees flitting overhead.

Sunset Bees, 2.75″x2.75″ oil paint on canvas with 5″ wooden easel, $59 with free shipping.

Below you can see the painting tucked into a bookshelf with my Pooh and Piglet bank, though in this case it looks a bit like Pooh is protecting Piglet from a horror of bees. Hah.

Sunset Bees with easel, by Amy Crook, $59

Tags: bees, for sale, tiny painting, watercolor
Posted in Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Shop - Whimsical and Strange, Whimsical and Strange | No Comments »

Get Well Squid

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Get Well Squid by Amy Crook, $79

A friend of mine is in the hospital right now, so I drew up this little guy and printed him on a card to help cheer her up while she undergoes treatment. I’m not sure how he’s going to get that bottle of pills open without a helping hand, but he sure looks like he could use them, poor guy.

Get Well Squid, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on paper, $79 for the original with free shipping, or get him on a card of your own at my Etsy shop.

Tags: cartoon, copic markers, for sale, pen and ink, squid, weeble
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange | No Comments »

L is for Lestrade

Friday, January 13th, 2012

L is for Lestrade by Amy Crook

Happy Friday the 13th! I bring you a fourth adorably morbid installment in my Baker Street Tinies Edward Gorey/Sherlock pastiche commissions. Lestrade is taken directly from H is for Hector in the original book, though Hector wasn’t texting at the time of his untimely demise.

I highly recommend clicking to see the image larger, if only so you can appreciate my absurdly painstaking work. The original is sold, but there are cards (and soon prints) available in my Etsy shop.

L is for Lestrade, 8.5″x5.5″ pen and ink on paper, sold.

Tags: baker street tinies, crosshatching, edward gorey, lestrade, nfs, pastiche, pen and ink, sherlock
Posted in Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange | No Comments »

Bee sketch

Saturday, January 7th, 2012

Bee of Whimsy sketch by Amy Crook

This whimsical little bee is quite fashionable in his hat, scarf, gloves and boots. He’s out getting a bit of pollen for the hive, but just because he’s working doesn’t mean he can’t be dapper.

Tags: nfs, pencil, sketch
Posted in Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange | No Comments »

Cuppa Watercolor

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Cuppa Watercolor by Amy Crook, $323

I painted this image with prints in mind, and then Photoshop and I had irreconcilable differences about the color. I managed to get a decent one made for a certain Christmas present, but I swear I wasn’t speaking to my Adobe products for a few days afterward.

Apparently one culprit is the bright teal paint I used for the cup, which is a color my scanner seems to hate, not to mention the issues it has with pale colors of any sort, such as the shadow under the spoon that’s been rendered invisible.

Regardless, I really liked how the original came out, a peaceful cup of tea brewing, just waiting to brighten up someone’s day.

Cuppa Watercolor, 6″x6″ watercolor on paper, $323 with free shipping.

Tags: for sale, tea, teal, watercolor
Posted in Daily Art, Shop - Whimsical and Strange, Whimsical and Strange | No Comments »

M is for Mycroft

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

M is for Mycroft by Amy Crook

The wonderful person who bought my other two Baker Street Tinies Edward Gorey/Sherlock pastiche pieces decided her collection wasn’t complete without Mycroft Holmes and DI Lestrade in the mix. This is the first of two more images she’s commissioned to match the first two, with yet more painstaking crosshatching. Mycroft takes directly after E is for Ernest in the original books, though the bell has become a Blackberry, and his faithful umbrella snuck its way into the picture.

I highly recommend clicking to see the image larger, if only so you can appreciate my absurdly painstaking work. Once Lestrade is done, I’ll have cards and prints available in my Etsy shop.

M is for Mycroft, 8.5″x5.5″ pen and ink on paper, sold.

Tags: baker street tinies, crosshatching, edward gorey, mycroft, nfs, pastiche, pen and ink, sherlock
Posted in Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange | 2 Comments »