Deadly Nightshade
Posted on February 4th, 2014
Deadly Nightshade, watercolor by Amy Crook
With a cat named Belladonna, it was inevitable that I’d eventually decide to paint her namesake plant.
The leaves are bright green and vibrant, while the berries have their own subtle inner glow of poisonous red-black. White gel pen gives three names for the plant, floating ghostly on the matte watercolor background. The blue-black night holds subtle textures, overlapping the plant in some spots and leaving white gaps in others, and you can see the soft pencil sketch beneath the art in places, giving the piece a loose, painterly feel.
Deadly Nightshade, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper.
Deadly Nightshade, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of one unripe berry and two blooming flowers, along with the word “Belladonna” crawling along the leaves. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with the sunlight bringing out the blue in the background.
Deadly Nightshade, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: for sale, japanese watercolor, watercolor
Butterfly
Posted on February 3rd, 2014
Butterfly, watercolor by Amy Crook
Pink! Bright colors! Happy little hearts! What is the world coming to?
I was working on something on the other side of this that was just not going well, and when I flipped the paper over there was this Rorschach-like butterfly just waiting for me in the white space. I decided to let go of perfectionism and use a peacock feather and bold, painterly lines to flesh out the whimsical butterfly.
Bright, bold, and flying free. Isn’t that a lovely thing to aspire to?
Butterfly, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Butterfly, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the whimsical details, from the textured background to the bold spirals and delightful little heart. Below, you can see the butterfly flying in a frame, as though you’re looking through a window out onto a field of brilliant flowers.
Butterfly, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, watercolor
Descent
Posted on February 2nd, 2014
Descent, abstract art by Amy Crook
A violet night sky is peppered with the texture of stars. Shimmering halos surround these rocky meteors as they descend through that peaceful sky, trailing glittering fire behind them. There’s red and green and lavender and some hints of blue and brown and gold. The sunlight changes everything, and a closer look shows shining crystals jutting up off the page, intruding into the third dimension.
This painting took a lot of fits and starts and several different forms before I was happy with this final work. All of the pieces work in harmony to tell a visual story, instead of fighting to find meaning between them.
Descent, 7″x5″ salt, watercolor, and duochrome watercolor on paper.
Descent, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of some of the meteors, see the rich red and shimmery green, and the lavender halos lighting up against the violet sky. Below, you can see the painting all tucked into a frame, protected from the elements and ready to grace your wall, desk, or shelf.
Descent, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, more cowbell, purple, salt, violet, watercolor
Felicitations
Posted on January 23rd, 2014
Felicitations, a Star Trek parody comic
by Amy Crook for Tara Swiger
This commission was so fun! Tara Swiger came to me wanting a Trekkie birthday card with a Tara sort of twist, and we passed ideas back and forth via email until this finally gelled.
Spock’s holding a gift in what I think of as Tara colors, though really her pink is usually even brighter, and Picard’s got his usual “make it so” hand gesture going on. It was kind of fun mixing eras, too (though technically Spock did show up on Next Generation, he wasn’t in his TOS uniform). A little logic, a little illogic, and a lot of fangirl glee went into the image!
After Tara got her original in the mail, she sent me this fun little quote to share with you:
Hoorah! I just got my custom illustration in the mail (Amy sent the ORIGINAL! So fancy!) and it is so perfect!
I requested a customer birthday card, something funny + sweet to send Captains on their birthday. Amy helped me come up with the perfect idea, because I was a bit foggy about what I wanted.
I love that she got the geekery and she’s clever enough to make it funny.Amy’s super-easy to work with (this is my second custom order!) and I’ve been nervous (I have NO idea what’s involved), but she makes it easy!
If you’d like an illustration of your very own, just email me to get started!
Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: all rights reserved, birthday, commission, copic marker, nfs, pen and ink, picard, spock, star trek, tara swiger
2 Comments »
Stamp Collection
Posted on January 21st, 2014
yep, that’s my stamp collection
I think the first stamps I ever collected were the Winnie the Pooh ones back in the mid-’90s, so long ago they’re still the sort you had to lick. Also, they’re Canadian. At some point in the next two decades (man, I’m old), I’ve added Hobbits from New Zealand, wizards from Australia, and several fannish sheets of US stamps. The latest addition are the nifty Harry Potter forever stamps that just came out here, which I got lots of — I’ll use most of them for Etsy orders, but just a few will get to stick around with the others in my collection.
Like a lot of my collections, this one is pretty small and focused on things I’m a fan of. 7 sets of stamps for 20 years is a tiny haul, but it’s enough for me to pull them out sometimes and smile over them.
We’re going through a time when it’s all about decluttering, getting rid of, and letting go, but I’ve always been a collector. I collected stickers and bookmarks as a kid, and still have some of the latter from 30+ years ago. I collect plushies, and action figures, books and comics and movies, tiny snow globes and giant slipcased volumes.
I declutter sometimes — get rid of this or that from things I’m less of a fan of than I used to be, or just ditch games I don’t play, movies I don’t watch or books I don’t read. I get rid of things that don’t make me smile anymore, for whatever reason.
But I’m never going to be a minimalist, because deep down I’m just too much of a pack rat.
How about you, are you a collector?
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: collection, geekery, words
1 Comment »
Fairytale Sky 8
Posted on January 13th, 2014
Fairytale Sky 8 by Amy Crook
It’s the last day of the Floating Gallery, and I’m rounding up a week of art with another Fairytale Sky.
I used a different palette this time, a rich orange harvest moon that lights up the mist below in swirls of the same color. There’s a soft silvery green shimmer in and around those orange spirals, and a few little silver stars manage to peek out above the thick fog.
Everything about this painting is better in person, of course, from the shimmer of paint that changes color when the light hits to the soft texture of the black paper.
Fairytale Sky 8, 6″x4″ duochrome watercolor and Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Fairytale Sky 8, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the mist lit up with golden sparkles by the last rays of a sunset. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, with the phone that took the picture above. It’s quite a small piece, and could go on a desk, cubicle wall, or tucked into an odd corner of architecture to bring a smile whenever you glance into that little hidden place.
Fairytale Sky 8, 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, iridescent, japanese watercolor, moon, orange, spirals, watercolor
Box of Hearts
Posted on January 12th, 2014
Box of Hearts, a Cthulhu Valentine by Amy Crook
When Cthulhu gives you a big box of hearts, he really gives you… hearts. Ew. They may be small and squishy, but he finally found a way to show his love!
The card delightfully frames the image with the words:
“Cthulhu wanted to give you his* hearts
*not all hearts dedicated to Cthulhu before acquisition”
You can give your love a Valentine this year from my Etsy Shop. Assuming they’re the sort to be wooed by, well, this.
Box of Hearts, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Cthulhu Valentine by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Card Design, Floating Gallery, Tentacles, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: anatomical heart, copic marker, cthluhu, etsy, for sale, heart, pen & ink, valentine
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