Posts Tagged ‘ghost’

The Reaching Tree

Wednesday, June 8th, 2022

The Reaching Tree, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper

It’s a tree of a different color! Deep violet-black and slightly glittery, this amethyst paint uses real minerals to create gorgeous textures. The moon has a little extra shine of its own, as it should, but the painting is otherwise entirely monochrome.

The tree reaches into the sky, always seeking something in the way of trees. Below it, the figure has more hands than seems strictly warranted, reaching just as the tree is, though possibly not for the same thing.

Just in case, perhaps stay out of arms’ reach. If you can figure out how long that is, anyway.

The Reaching Tree, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the figure’s ghostly arms reach and reach. Is one of them reaching for you? Well, you can keep it safely behind glass in a frame, should you wish to.

The Reaching Tree, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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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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Artifacts of the Resolution

Wednesday, July 14th, 2021

a mixed media painting of a tree, crows, and a ghost

Artifacts of the Resolution, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper

Making prints work out is always an interesting challenge with a new program and a new printer.

Instead of recycling this low-res misprint, I used my mineral-based watercolors to paint over it. I added the cloudy russet sunset and gave the tree texture, body, and new details. All of the birds stayed at their original resolution, which gives the painting its name.

Look, I can’t be expected to resist a pun that good.

Artifacts of the Resolution, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see up close the motion-blur of the branches next to the clear pixelation on the birds, as though they’re visiting from some other, lower-resolution reality. Below, the painting is resting in a frame, waiting to be sent to someone new.

Artifacts of the Resolution, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Inktober 2019, part 2

Sunday, October 27th, 2019

It’s been quite the October for me, so I’m afraid part 2 is late and long, and part 3 will round out the month for you next week. Thanks for all your patience and support!

an ink drawing of a tiny dragon in a cup of dragonwell tea by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 12: Dragon, 3.5″x2.5″ pen & ink on ACEO, wip, nfs

an ink wash painting of a headless ghost leaving ashy footprints behind him by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 13: Ash, 5″x7″ brush and ink on paper

an ink wash painting of ashy footsteps going up to an overgrown structure by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 14: Overgrown, 5″x7″ ink wash on paper

an ink wash painting of a graveyard with a headless ghost moving through the fog by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 15: Legend, 5″x7″ ink wash on paper

an ink wash painting of an ornamental barette in long hair by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 17: Ornament, 3.5″x2.5″ brush and ink on ACEO card, sold

an ink drawing of a black cat in a sassy pose by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 18: Misfit, 3.5″x2.5″ pen & ink on ACEO bristol

a chibi ink drawing of Bucky Barnes in a speedo holding a Captain America beach ball by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 19: Sling, 3″x3″ pen and ink on paper, wip

an ink drawing of a cat stepping on some poor dude's balls by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 20: Tread, 3.5″x2.5″ pen & ink on ACEO bristol

an ink drawing of a lounging man in a corset bedecked with jewellery by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 21: Treasure, 3.5″x2.5″ pen & ink on ACEO watercolor card, wip, nfs

an ink drawing of a ghost cat in a witch hat by Amy Crook

Inktober 2019 day 22: Ghost, 3.5″x2.5″ pen & ink on ACEO bristol, sold

Abbreviation decoder ring!

  • wip = work in progress, ie, I’m probably going to color some or all of the drawing before it’s really done
  • nfs = not for sale, ie, it’s a Patreon sketch and already belongs to someone else
  • ACEO = Artist Card, Edition Original, also known as ATC or Artist Trading Card when traded rather than sold, which is a standard size I use for all my Patreon sketches these days

Want to get your own sketches, dibs on art, or just feel the warm glow of being part of my community of supporters? Head over to Patreon and pick a tier to get started! There’s also bonus cat photos sometimes, if that helps.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, 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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Eight for a Wish

Thursday, May 16th, 2019

Eight for a Wish by Amy Crook, a gloomy watercolor of a bare tree, eight crows, and a grumpy ghost

Eight for a Wish, 6″x6″ Primatek watercolor on paper

The Counting Crows series continues!

Although the original rhyme is about magpies, there’s only murders hanging about outside my windows, so crows are what you get.

Seven charming fellows are flying in, with an eighth ahead of them already swooping along, banked to skim close to the thick trunk of this twisting tree. The ghost this time is looking more annoyed than anything; perhaps it’s not a fan of birds.

Although one of my patrons has already claimed this for their collection, you can still admire its creepy fog, spooky tree, and the gentle motion of eight pairs of wings.

Eight for a Wish, detail, by Amy Crook

Eight for a Wish, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the ghost’s very grumpy expression and the soft flutter of many wings. Below, it’s haunting this frame before it flies off to its new home.

Eight for a Wish, framed art by Amy Crook

Eight for a Wish, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Inktober 2018: Week 4 + The End

Thursday, November 1st, 2018

Inktober is over! One ink drawing per day for the whole month, whew. Today we’ve got the last 10 of these little 2.5″x3.5″ cards, and then on to NaNoWriMo we go!

brush and ink drawing of a slice of pizza with the word YUM!

Inktober 22: Pizza

brush and ink drawing of a black cat staring into your soul

Inktober 23: Your Soul Looks Tasty

pen and ink art of an agouti scratching a capybara's chin

Inktober 24: Giddy Rodents for Kim

ink wash word art of the word MOIST

Inktober 25: Moist for Oscar

brush and ink art of a cute ghost

Inktober 26: Ghost

pen and ink line art of a Drifloon

Inktober 27: Drifloon

brush and ink word art of the word petrichor dripping onto cracked dry ground

Inktober 28: Petrichor for Molly

draw a blod and make it into a cat. call it art.

Inktober 29: Blob Cat

brush and ink art of city skyline

Inktober 30: Skyline

pen and ink art of a fanged skull in a crown resting in an arched niche

Inktober 31: Vampire Skull

Support me on Patreon to see these first when they go up for sale!

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Seven for a Secret 2

Tuesday, February 6th, 2018

Seven for a Secret 2, spooky watercolor by Amy Crook

Seven for a Secret 2, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

This moody series of Counting Crows paintings has its seventh addition!

The tree here has clearly been through quite a bit of storm-tossing or other rough handling, with broken branches and even the top pointing jaggedly to the sky while it spreads itself as well as it can with what remains. A murder of crows alights, and a ghostly figure awaits in the fog.

Where would you show this seventh secret?

Seven for a Secret 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Seven for a Secret 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a couple of the crows, a fraction of the full murder. Below, they’re in a frame like looking through a window into another, spookier reality.

Seven for a Secret 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Seven for a Secret 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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