Posts Tagged ‘skull’

The Skull Inside of Us

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

The Skull Inside of Us, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

There’s a skull inside all of us, waiting for its chance to get out. A skeleton of finger bones, ribs, kneecaps and vertebrae, tiny wrist bones and huge thigh bones hiding buried in the reality of us. We’re bound together by meat and nerves and souls, but underneath the surface, our skulls are always smiling.

This small painting packs a lot of punch with its iconic imagery and painterly execution. A wealth of color lives in the greys, purples and blues and golden browns mingling together to create eerie shadows.

The Skull Inside of Us, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the image dissolve into abstraction when it’s up close, colors separating and shapes blurring into spookiness. Below, the piece is in a black frame, making it feel more like a scrying-glass look at the future.

The Skull Inside of Us, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: for sale, skull, watercolor

Boring Yorick

Wednesday, April 15th, 2015

Boring Yorick, a Sherlock sketch by Amy Crook

I doodled up this little Sherlock sketch last year to go in someone’s Christmas present (*waves*), and I thought perhaps today was a good day to share him with you.

Sadly, Yorick wasn’t even murdered, so Sherlock finds the whole thing deadly dull. As it were.

Boring Yorick, 5.5″x4.25″ pen & ink on parchment cardstock.

Categories: People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: nfs, pen and ink, shakespeare, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sketch, skull

Lurker in the Depths

Sunday, April 6th, 2014

Lurker in the Depths by Amy Crook

Most of this seahorse is pale, like a creature evolved in a place where there’s little to no light, but his fin is decorated with a rather morbid splash of red. His eye swirls with yellow and white, making him look blind. He lurks in the swirling waters next to a barnacle-bedecked skull.

Despite all these rather ghoulish details, there’s an adorable sort of whimsy to him. Go figure.

Lurker in the Depths, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.

Lurker in the Depths, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see some of the subtle detail in the seahorse, his creepy yellow-tinged eye and the blue shadows on his pale body. Below, you can see him in a frame, hanging out with a squid.

Lurker in the Depths, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: copic marker, for sale, pen and ink, seahorses, skull

Crowned Skull

Monday, June 10th, 2013

Crowned Skull by Amy Crook

After drawing yesterday’s bookmark, I decided to draw a big version of the same image. I actually have a Halloween model skull on my bookshelf, wearing the paper crown out of a Christmas cracker, so he’s been the inspiration and model. His name is Sherrinford, because of reasons.

Personally, I think he would appeal to fans of Game of Thrones, given how everyone dies while George RR Martin drinks your tears.

Crowned Skull, 5″x7″ pencil, pen & ink and water brush on paper.

Crowned Skull, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the black ink separates into greys, blues and browns when I use the water brush to create shading. Below, you can see him in a frame, looking regal and tragic with my iPhone for moral support. Well, and size reference.

Crowned Skull, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, pencil, skull, water brush
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Skull Bookmark 3

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

Skull Bookmark 3
by Amy Crook

There was originally a skull bookmark in this set, and it wasn’t this one! That one got claimed by someone on my list, and someone else asked me to try to recreate it, so I did two more and she picked her favorite. So here is number three, pen and ink and water brush scribbled and smeared on comic backing board. I ended up also doing a full-sized crowned skull as a result of all this thinking about it, which you’ll get to see this coming week.

Skull Bookmark 3, 2″x6.5″ pen & ink and water brush on paper.

Skull Bookmark 3, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the skull itself up close. This ink tends to bleed out just a bit of blue and brown when it’s wet, so there’s a subtle undertone of color to the pieces that I really enjoy. Below, it’s sitting with my trusty book, and you can see it’s one of the largest of this set.

Skull Bookmark 3, with book, by Amy Crook
(book not included, book never included in anything)

Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bookmark, buy a bookmark, for sale, pen and ink, skull
1 Comment »

Skull Paper

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Skull Paper by Amy Crook

Another foray into Victorian-style wallpapers with a limited palette, this piece combines loose brushwork with muted, complementary colors. The top copper shade is slightly iridescent, which adds a certain decaying glory to the erratic pattern. It makes me think of a design mouldering away in some abandoned Gothic manor house, the grinning skulls only adding to the haunted gloom of the place.

Skull Paper, 4″x6″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Skull Paper, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the light reflecting off some of the warm copper paint, which is at its darkest and most iridescent in the halos around each skull. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, hanging out on my desk with some other examples of scribbly, imperfect wallpaper.

Skull Paper, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: copper, for sale, iridescent, skull, turquoise, victorian wallpaper, watercolor

7 Skulls

Monday, March 18th, 2013

7 Skulls by Amy Crook

Whimsical cartoon skulls are rolling around on a background full of spirals, with a lovely blue-black painted border that emphasizes the natural torn edges of the paper. Each cartoonish skull has its own character, just like the real ones we all have hiding under our skin.

7 Skulls, 9″x7″ watercolor on paper.

7 Skulls, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a detail of the skulls and the thick, textured paper they’re painted on. Below, I’ve put them temporarily in an 8×10 frame, so you can get a feel for the actual size of the painting.