Posts Tagged ‘calligraphy’

To Have Ambition

Wednesday, December 6th, 2017

To Have Ambition, word art by Amy Crook

To Have Ambition, 7″x5″ ink and pencil on paper

Who would have thought that cheesy ’80s pop music would spawn further art? The Gang of Four song I Love a Man in a Uniform has always held this little gem that, on some tired days, feels like my life motto.

To have ambition is my ambition

This word art piece uses beautiful sparkling inks and has elaborate decorations in varying stages of doneness to represent the unfulfilled ambitions — from fully realized illumunation around the capital to the barely-sketched design beneath the final word, process becomes product.

To Have Ambition, detail, by Amy Crook

To Have Ambition, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the shiny embedded in pretty much all of the ink used in this piece. Below, you can see how it looks in a frame, a gorgeous example of artistic hopefulness.

To Have Ambition, framed art by Amy Crook

To Have Ambition, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Pretty Words, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: , , , , ,


Resist & Persist

Wednesday, February 15th, 2017

Resist and She Persisted, defiant word art by Amy Crook

Resist, 6″x4″ ink wash and metallic watercolor on watercolor postcard;
She Persisted, 7″x5″ watercolor and metallic watercolor on paper

I painted these this past week to try out some of my art supplies and I think they both do a good job of what they were meant to do — defy those who wish to shut us up.

Want one of these gorgeous originals?

Normally they’d go for $199 and $249 respectively, but if you make a donation of at least $50 to NAACP, you can keep whichever one you wish.* Help them keep fighting the fight they’ve been fighting for years, email me the receipt, and I’ll get your defiance out to your doorstep.

Both of these have beautiful metallics and sheen to them that’s even more amazing in person. Take them home, donate to a good cause, and make your own resistance that much more beautiful and truthful.

*First come, first snagged. First class shipping is included via letter post, if you want fancier shipping there will be an additional charge for the exact fee.

Categories: Pretty Words
Tags: , , , , , ,


Make Do

Saturday, February 4th, 2017

Make Do, word art by Amy Crook

Make Do, 8″x8″ ink on Fluid watercolor paper

Make what you have
Do what you need

This gorgeous word art mixes rich rose, vivid violet, and luscious lavender inks. The brilliant colors and motivational message would bring brightness to any studio, office, or home.

Whenever you’re frustrated by not having the just-right tools or supplies, you can look at this lovely ink art and remind yourself to make do.

Make Do, detail, by Amy Crook

Make Do, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the edges of vivid purple and dusky blue on the big splashing word art framing the loose calligraphy of the main aphorism. Below, this bright word art is in a big frame, ready to cheer up any space with its inspiring message.

Make Do, framed art by Amy Crook

Make Do, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Pretty Words
Tags: , , , , ,


Persnickety

Tuesday, August 16th, 2016

Persnickety, word art by Amy Crook

Persnickety: placing too much emphasis on trivial or minor details; fussy,
7″x5″ pen & ink, brush & ink, and pencil on paper

Word Art Wednesday is back after its short break! This was a request from one of my patient Patreon patrons, and I couldn’t resist the urge to get fussy with the drop cap.

What are you persnickety about?

Categories: Pretty Words
Tags: , , , , , ,


Palimpsest

Tuesday, June 14th, 2016

Palimpsest, word art by Amy Crook

Palimpsest: something reused or altered but still bearing traces of its earlier form,
7″x5″ pen & ink and Sharpie marker on recycled artwork

This week’s word art is a request from Kim, one of my lovely Patreon supporters. As soon as I saw her request, I actually went and washed an old piece of art I wasn’t happy with, getting most of the paint off but leaving the ghostly blue world behind. Paper doesn’t recycle quite as well as parchment, but there wasn’t too much blurring with the strong Sharpie marker, though you can see some in the green vines on the upper left there.

If you’d like to see your own favourite word reinterpreted, consider becoming a patron! For a mere $5 you could get your request fulfilled.

Categories: Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Pretty Words, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , , , , ,


May Patreon sketches & a bit of word art

Tuesday, May 31st, 2016

This past Wednesday was a bit of a madhouse, and this next one might be worse. My roommate of 9 years is moving out, and someone new is moving in! I’m very grateful to have found someone so fast (as is my old roomie, who got to squeak out with less than a month’s notice), but it’s going to be a lot of changes. The first of which is a small raise in my rent, sigh!

Do consider supporting my art on Patreon and optionally getting sketches of your own, assuming that my art is something enjoy and support!

Inception quote word art by Amy Crook

Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

In lieu of doing my own word art live on Periscope, I did this little quote from Inception while watching someone else’s Periscope. Perisception, or something.

Knitting sketch for CC

Knitting sketch for CC

This is sort of a study for a larger piece of art. It’s interesting trying to google people knitting, because in half the photos you can tell it’s just a model holding the needles attractively instead of actually knitting.

there is no explanation for this

“Gollum with the good hair” for Jeff’s bizarre prompt

Gollum is saying, “Precious is back from the tasty orange munchie mans… And some new hair!” I have basically no excuse for this one, but it’s definitely Jeff’s fault.

sketchy spring cuppa for Kim

“A cup of tea for Spring” for Kim

So let’s conclude with a lovely little cup of wildflowers, a bright breath of spring after the foreverness of winter this year.

Have a lovely short holiday week, for those of you who got Monday off!

Categories: Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,


Word Art, week 4+2

Monday, November 30th, 2015

November’s over, and I won at NaNoWriMo, hooray! I even managed a piece of word art every day through flu and freezing cold and fickle cats trying to sleep on my hands while I typed. So yay for finished projects!

I have had an inquiry about making a booklet of these — what do you think? Would you want a handmade book of weird words? It would be a lot of work to scan and format and print, but it might be fun to have the project preserved for posterity.

Word 22: Lingible

Word 22: Lingible – $25

Word 23: Cornobble

Word 23: Cornobble – sold

Word 24: Ictic

Word 24: Ictic – $25

Word 25: Illaqueate

Word 25: Illaqueate – sold

Word 26: Grank

Word 26: Grank – sold

Word 27: Quotidian

Word 27: Quotidian – sold

Word 28: Malaxate

Word 28: Malaxate – $10

Word 29: Kithoge

Word 29: Kithoge – sold

Word 30: Sesquipedalian

Word 30: Sesquipedalian – $10

Categories: Pretty Words
Tags: , , , , ,


Drip divider More Art This Way »