Fairytale Sky 9
Posted on October 7th, 2014
Fairytale Sky 9 by Amy Crook
A lovely, shadowed full moon hangs in a sky full of stars, but the real shine is from the mysterious spiraling clouds. They gleam subtly in blues and purples, stately shapes with just a hint of soft brushwork about the edges. This addition to the Fairytale Sky series is very reminiscent of the first, but refined by the iterations in between.
Sometimes I think it’s good to treat life like you’re in your very own fairytale. Do good deeds when you can, and you’ll find them returned when you least expect it. Don’t cause harm through inattention or ignorance. And always wear good walking shoes.
Fairytale Sky 9, 7″x5″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Fairytale Sky 9, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the subtle shimmer of the paint together with the soft shine of the stars and the bright gleam of the moon. Below, I’ve put this sky in a frame, like a window to another world, one full of magic and fairytale logic.
Fairytale Sky 9, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, duochrome, fairytale sky, for sale, moon, periwinkle, spirals, watercolor
Jellyfish Bloom
Posted on October 6th, 2014
Jellyfish Bloom by Amy Crook
I went to Monterey Bay Aquarium recently, where they have two different exhibits full of jellyfish. I love the way the jellies just float serenely along, totally oblivious to the tug of gravity, going up or down or whichever way suits them at the moment. Their tentacles trail along behind like the tails of comets, following with the same slow, careless air.
The splash of sunlight at the top of this painting made me want to give them a bit of a gold sheen, so I used the palest gold paint I have (doesn’t everyone have 7 shades of gold paint?). There’s a tiny bit of salt hiding in this painting, and the background is shining and iridescent, giving everything an ethereal, underwater glow.
Jellyfish Bloom, 7″x5″ salt, metallic watercolor, and iridescent watercolor on paper.
Jellyfish Bloom, detail, by Amy Crook
It’s annoyingly difficult to photograph shiny things, because the white of the paper ends up looking grey by comparison, but you can get a little hint of the iridescent sheen that hides in the turquoise waters with the shiny gold jellies in the photo above. Below, the piece in a frame, looking rather more green from the bright sunlight.
Jellyfish Boom, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: iridescent watercolor, jellyfish, metallic, metallic watercolor, more cowbell, nfs, salt, sold, underwater
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After the Stars
Posted on October 5th, 2014
After the Stars by Amy Crook
This piece has a lot of in common with both Insomnia City and Lost Arcadia, but the eerie city it depicts is slowly decaying after whatever cataclysm cracked the moon and erased the stars. As I painted, my mind supplied Lovecraftian stories to go with the muted palette, reminiscent of his cities of glowing semiprecious stone there in the Dreamlands.
After the Stars, 6″x4″ Japanese watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
After the Stars, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a small detail of a few buildings, one dripping with something that might be blood, one cracked all along its windowless face, and a third thrusting up at the clouds, defying the decay around it. Below, you can see it in a frame, waiting to go to its new home.
After the Stars, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: city, japanese watercolor, lovecraft, nfs, sold, watercolor
Blankie
Posted on September 29th, 2014
Blankie, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook
This idea came up in conversation with yet another friend, so I suppose it’s sort of like a fourth sketch prompt. We both liked the idea of Sherlock gloomily buried in his duvet, refusing to come out until a good case comes along. I can only imagine John’s accompanying expression of total exasperation.
The original has been claimed, but you can send this as a card to that one friend that clearly needs to get out more.
Blankie, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Sherlock in his Blankie blank card by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Card Design, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, etsy, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold
Not That Kind of Dwarf
Posted on September 26th, 2014
Not That Kind of Dwarf, parody comic by Amy Crook
“Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to Erebor we go!”
“I’m not that kind of dwarf!”
The last of my friends’ silly sketch prompts, though I admit to taking liberties with the intent of “Thorin and his minions.” This is sort of a three-way crossover, with the Disney song sneaking in a third fandom. Because reasons.
You can get Thorin and his Minions on a card at my Etsy shop, to add a bit of surreal pop culture to the day of a very deserving friend.
Not That Kind of Dwarf, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Not That Kind of Dwarf greeting card by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Card Design, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, despicable me, etsy, hobbit, minion, nfs, pen and ink, sold, thorin
Q. Holmes
Posted on September 24th, 2014
Q. Holmes, a fan art comic by Amy Crook
The second of the silly sketch prompts, proving my friends deserve me, is the crossover known as Bondlock, wherein Bond’s Q is the third Holmes brother. I imagine he’s making that face because his big brothers are giving him crap about his fashion sense, though honestly being related to those two is cause enough.
The original was sold in last month’s Floating Gallery, but you can get cards at my Etsy shop, should you so desire. They frame beautifully, or so I’m told.
Q. Holmes, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Q. Holmes greeting card by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Card Design, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: 007, copic marker, etsy, james bond, mycroft holmes, nfs, pen and ink, q, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold
Continuations
Posted on September 22nd, 2014
Continuations, commission art by Amy Crook
Sometimes the love of cephalopods really brings people together! Zack was looking for a squid to use in a client-side interface, and ended up becoming a patron to boot. These little guys are anthropomorphic representations of programming concepts I won’t try to explain – he says it much better than me what they’re useful for:
When working on a problem, sometimes you stumble onto a solution that you don’t quite have the words or theory to adequately describe.
I asked Amy to help me document four primitives that I found useful in composing small units of code across time and space.
And now the primitives live on my desk in a framed illustration and I don’t have to worry about forgetting them or which notebook they were documented in.
Curiously, I like looking at her illustrations, whereas, as a harsh self-critic, I don’t enjoy reading my own technical work.
I liked the outcome so much that I immediately engaged her to draw up my next design, at a much earlier stage in the process.
I would definitely recommend Amy to anyone involved in creative technical work, and I hope others would be open to the incorporation of art into technology.
Symbolic abstraction doesn’t have to be limited to the greek alphabet.
-Zack Galler, Mathlords
Continuations, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Read more here about how to get your very own commissioned art, for work or play.
Categories: Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, commission, copic marker, nfs, pen and ink
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