Telltale Heart
Posted on April 3rd, 2014
Telltale Heart by Amy Crook
This painting is awfully bright and whimsical to be a reference to Poe’s famous short story, but the name somehow fit anyway with the way the heart is just barely defined by a few telltale strokes of the brush.
I really like the non-rainbow progression of colors, and the rich textures trapped in the transition. I imagine this piece brightening up someone’s work space, providing inspiration and a grounding in kindness.
Telltale Heart, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Telltale Heart, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a bit of the texture on the painting, a mix of granulation, brush strokes, and subtle color shifts. Below, you can see it in a frame, just waiting to go to its new home.
Telltale Heart, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, heart, watercolor
New Growth
Posted on April 2nd, 2014
New Growth by Amy Crook
Spring is creeping out into the US despite the weather, with daffodils here and brave buds there. Here in California we’ve got lots of flowers and new leaves, though there’s a yellow edge to some of them with the drought.
This painting echoes those delicate new leaves and water-drenched old growth, unfurling after a life-giving rain shower.
Art can symbolize something you want in life, and be a talisman for your own movement in that direction. Is there somewhere you could use a breath of spring and a burst of new growth?
New Growth, 7″5″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
New Growth, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see how there’s a ghost of yellow even beyond the spray of new growth, like the mists of pollen floating on the page. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, washed bright in the spring sunshine.
New Growth, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, for sale, green, japanese watercolor, watercolor
The Silence
Posted on April 1st, 2014
The Silence, a Doctor Who parody comic by Amy Crook
It’s really hard to make a creepy, mouthless monster adorable, but I think I’ve done a creditable job. The puppy eyes help. He’s trying to explain how he managed to forget your birthday, but you’ll forget he wished you “Happy Birthday” as soon as you look away, anyway.
The Silence, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper. Get him on a card at Etsy.
Sorry I Forgot, Doctor Who 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, doctor who, etsy, for sale, pen and ink
Studio Tour: Bookshelves part 2
Posted on March 25th, 2014
Bookcase 1 of 6*, top half
I decided not to keep you in suspense too long, so here’s the top half of the bookcase we started exploring last week. You can see off to the left there where I have a custom-made dry erase marker cup from my friend Z. It looks like a castle from the front! I’m meant to draw in some brickwork on it myself, but I never get around to it (much like the ear plugs I still owe him, d’oh!).
Most of the stuff on these shelves are easier to see behind to the books, so there’s only one that got a double photo, but to make it up to you I also photographed the stuff on top.
This is the fifth shelf, counting from the bottom up. It’s got blank books, inspirational toys, glass bunnies from Brazil, and more books! The box of three blank books bound in raw silk is just begging to be some fascinating little project someday, and the other little blank journals and notebooks are just too nifty to write in. The golden Snitch is a plushie, and that red-patterned box contains another sort of collectible of mine — more boxes! In this case it’s full of hexagonal nesting origami boxes from Japan.
The books are a mix of grammar, writing, design, and tea books, but I believe the whole shelf is nonfiction. This means I’ve read very few of them, because I get really easily bored reading nonfiction. So bored.
This shelf is teeny tiny! It’s just the right height for the stuff inside, which includes what’s left of my Pez dispenser collection, and some really awesome wee Nightmare Before Christmas statuettes. They are very cool, and also incredibly delicate, which is why they live in their packages right now, though I have in the past displayed them properly. There’s also Pooh and Piglet, acquired at Disneyland years ago if I recall correctly, and an electric candle.
And here we have the one and only place I arrange books by color, my collection of “Pooh’s Little Book” books, all silly little mini-books with quotes and art from the classic Pooh books. There’s even a copy of Eeyore’s Gloomy Little Instruction Book on the end there.
And here we have shelf seven, containing all of my Dresden Files hardcovers, a random fancy copy of Stardust, and chibi Pez. Also, Pooh and Piglet looking adorably scared, some random stationery, and a zombie fish.
On the topmost shelf, we have the British editions of Harry Potter 1-7, along with some other related things and a random copy of one of those Scary Stories books I read as a kid. I always loved the illustrations, so when I found this anthology on a Halloween sale table for cheap, I snagged it. In front are these absolutely delightful Harry Potter decorative boxes. Decorative boxes are seriously a weakness of mine, you guys. They have a little charm inside each one, so Hedwig’s is a cage and the Snitch has a broom and Harry on his broom has a Snitch. So awesome.
And finally, at the very top, we have plushies! There’s the zombie kitty that I lobotomized to see how his purrer worked, a ferret given to me with his nametag on, Paddington Bear complete with marmalde under his hat, and Sirius Blackie in his Prisoner of Love uniform. And a random purple rose, because why not?
I hope you’re enjoying this little tour of my studio, life, and brain! Next stop will be the paperbacks, which are 2 deep on the shelf and have their own bizarre assortment of collectibles and oddities.
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: about, studio tour
Studio Tour: Bookshelves part 1
Posted on March 20th, 2014
Bookcase 1 of 6*, bottom half
So, I have a lot of bookshelves, with a lot of stuff in them. For instance, in the living room (where I do most of my art) there’s a big wall of 6 bookcases, plus another half-height one full of games, plus another one on a different wall. And then there’s 3 in the bedroom. So we’re starting small! The leftmost bookcase in the big Billy set (yes, we love Ikea) on the living room wall is half-width, and has 8 shelves.
Let’s start at the bottom, which only has one photo because the stuff in front isn’t totally blocking the stuff behind it, for once.
The back row is a set of antique childrens’ books from my dad’s brother (and later my dad, I’ve been assured), which I loved as a kid and asked to take with me when I moved. It’s The Book House series, 6 pairs of books with increasingly complicated stories in them, including a lot of old fairy tales. Next to them is a battered old pair of Black Beauty and My Friend Flicka that I read as a kid and haven’t gotten rid of yet because reasons. In front there’s some relics of my years as a pyromaniac, when I used to burn colored candles into elaborate drips down over my candle holders like a strange sort of sculpture. Also the first of many tarot decks, and a Slinky.
Above you can see the front row of stuff on shelf #2, speaking of tarot decks. I used to have twice as many as I do now, but I’ve reduced a lot of my collections to just the favorites in the past few years. Yes, that’s right, I have less stuff now than I used to. Don’t let it hurt your brain too much.
Below, there’s the books hiding behind the tarot decks.
Ah, there they are. Mostly this shelf has tiny little short books, though I see that one got put on its side so it would fit with its brethren. I believe there’s a bunch of Edward Gorey reprints to the far left, and some classics in nice editions on the far right, with comic-related books, postcard books, and other mini coffee table books. The sideways one is The Zen of Zombie. Relatedly, my To Be Read pile is taller than I am, and some of these books are on it.
And on to the third shelf! This one also got two photos, even though you can kinda sorta see the books in back. There’s a nifty little cat box and a related mini book, and a bunch of cards, including a Manara tarot deck and some fancy short-run playing cards. And, of course, Harry Potter LEGOs. The old-school kind with yellow minifigs.
More books were hiding behind the cards! My collection of Madeleine L’Engle, a lovely boxed Spiderwick Chronicles, a completely random Japanese postcard book, and some other books I loved as a kid, plus a Tim Burton book, and one about Mirrormask. I think the postcard book was too tall for the second shelf, so it got special dispensation.
And lastly, we have the fourth shelf (of 8), full of some random stuff that just kinda ended up here. A friend made the adorable pincushion in which my squid pin sits, another one gave me the purple dragon statue, another one gave me the Art on the Gogh mini watercolor set, yet another one gave me the creepy wooden hands, and I bought the Harry Potter Snape’s potions lab playset my very own self at a convention. I have no explanation for the box of bank pins, though.
So, that’s it! Stuff an artist keeps in her bookcases, part 1 of a bajillion. Got questions? Want to talk about stuff? Drop me an email!
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: about, studio tour
One Plus One
Posted on March 18th, 2014
One Plus One, a Sherlock parody by Amy Crook
I love that Sesame Street puts some of their most awesome stuff on Youtube now, including this gem with Benedict Cumberbatch and the Count. I was inspired by the very cute ending with the Count saying, “Dat is 1 smart man, ah-ah!”
So, we have one of my favorite geek equations: 1+1<3 — where we have 1 smart man, 1 loyal man, and of course when you put them together, there’s the love. I even made it into a card for my Etsy shop.
One Plus One, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
One Plus One is Less Than Three, a Sherlock card by Amy Crook at Etsy
The original of this piece sold the very first day my patrons had their preview of March’s Floating Gallery. If you’d like to have your own chance to snag things early, or just feel like you’re extra special in my heart, you can join my list here.
Categories: Card Design, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, etsy, john watson, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold
Birthdaybomb
Posted on March 14th, 2014
Birthdaybomb, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook
Happy pi day! This comic has nothing to do with pie or pi, but the nerd in me couldn’t let it go by unacknowledged.
So, today’s art isn’t technically a commission, but it was a gift for one of my wonderful patrons. For her birthday, I decided to do something topical yet very in keeping with Sherlock’s personality — after all, any attention that’s not being paid to him is clearly going to the wrong place. John’s sincere moment of sweetness is being photobombed by our favorite showoff, but he does manage to get his, “Happy Birthday,” in edgewise.
It is, of course, also available as a card at my Etsy shop, for those of you unlucky enough not to own the original. 😉
Birthdaybomb, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Sherlock birthday card 2 by Amy Crook at Etsy
Categories: Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, etsy, john watson, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes
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