Blog « Antemortem Arts | Art & Writing by Amy Crook

Calm, Cool, and… yeah

Posted on March 13th, 2014

Calm, Cool, and... yeah, commission by Amy Crook, all rights reserved so please don't steal

Calm, Cool, and… yeah, commission by Amy Crook
all rights reserved so please don’t steal

I have patrons from the coolest places, y’all. Renee is from Malaysia, and she’s been trying to think of the perfect commission for a while. She wanted something that emphasized the character of each of these three somewhat reluctant heroes, so we decided on the “Calm, Cool, and Collected,” trope. Except that Eleven was a lot of things, but collected really isn’t one of them. Besides, bow ties are cool. Spock epitomizes calm, and Sherlock with his popped collar and his cheekbones is definitely cool, so Eleven helped us out by crossing out his adjective and adding in, “also Cool.”

Although the original is (obviously) sold, Renee has kindly consented to let me put our trio on a card that you can buy in my Etsy shop for you very own trio of heroes.

Calm, Cool, and… yeah, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.

Spock, Sherlock and Doctor Who card by Amy Crook at Etsy

Spock, Sherlock and Doctor Who card by Amy Crook at Etsy

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Gift Deductions

Posted on March 12th, 2014

Gift Deduction, commission comic by Amy Crook - all rights reserved, no copying or Sherlock will know

Gift Deduction, commission comic by Amy Crook
all rights reserved, no copying or Sherlock will know

Another holiday commission! What is this world coming to? Actually it’s just that I’m finally getting around to posting these, because I just finished a few others, including one I can’t post yet, hah.

Sherlock is looking very smug indeed here as he rattles the box and says, “Deducing the perfect gift is hardly a challenge worthy of my intellect… But I made an exception for you.”

This will be a card next holiday season, but for now you can just stare longingly and plan to send one to everyone you love enough.

Gift Deduction, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Bollocking the TARDIS

Posted on March 11th, 2014

Bollocking the TARDIS, commission comic by Amy Crook - all rights reserved, please don't copy without permission

Bollocking the TARDIS, commission by Amy Crook
all rights reserved, please don’t copy without permission

My wonderful patron from New Zealand, Caroline, commissioned this little comic for her housemate for Christmas, and I’m finally getting around to posting it.

If you’re not familiar with The Thick of It, it’s the show Peter Capaldi was most famous for before he agreed to become the Twelfth Doctor on Doctor Who. Or thirteenth. Or possibly fourteenth. I’m not super clear on that part… Anyway, Malcolm Tucker is the character well known for his incredibly creative and prolific swearing, which is extra hilarious since it’s a show about the inner workings of British politics.

Malcolm’s bollocking face is straight from the show.

The original is, obviously, safely in the hands of its happy recipient, but Caroline’s given me permission to make it into a greeting card for your most swear-happy friends.

Bollocking the TARDIS, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.

Bollocking the TARDIS, blank greeting card by Amy Crook at Etsy

Bollocking the TARDIS, blank greeting card by Amy Crook at Etsy

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Deepest R’lyeh

Posted on March 8th, 2014

Deepest R'lyeh, abstract art by Amy Crook

Deepest R’lyeh, abstract art by Amy Crook

“Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn”
(“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”)

-HP Lovecraft

Strange, tentacled things grow in the depths, with the horrible spheres of the ancient city of R’lyeh shining dim and strange through the murky waters. Colors shift and change, and objects seem to flow into one another in ways that the mind can’t quite comprehend. What strange horrors lie just out of sight, waiting for the stars to be right?

Deepest R’lyeh, 5″x5″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.

Deepest R'lyeh, detail, by Amy Crook

Deepest R’lyeh, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of one of the strange, multicolored tentacle creatures. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, a window into a world of madness.

Deepest R'lyeh, framed art by Amy Crook

Deepest R’lyeh, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles
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Night Blooming

Posted on March 7th, 2014

Night Blooming by Amy Crook

Night Blooming by Amy Crook

Three flowers shine under the midnight sky full of silver stars or, as one person suggested, floating fireflies. The flowers change colors depending on the angle, pink to purple for the thistle, gold to green for the amaranth and gold to a richer orange-gold for the little wildflower down at the bottom, with the greenery going softly blue like moonlit leaves at some angles.

Gorgeous and ethereal, this painting makes the flowers seem ghostly as the bloom out of their normal cycle, bright against the blackness of the paper.

Night Blooming, 7″x5″ duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Night Blooming, detail, by Amy Crook

Night Blooming, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the thistle from two angles, purple-blue as it catches the sunlight on the left, and pink and green on the right under more normal lighting. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with a few more eternally blooming flowers from my bookshelf for company.

Night Blooming, framed art by Amy Crook

Night Blooming, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Red Wedding Decoration

Posted on March 6th, 2014

Red Wedding Decoration by Amy Crook

Red Wedding Decoration by Amy Crook

Some of the time when I’m working on abstract art, I’m just thinking about the visuals. Sometimes, like with this piece, I tell myself a little story while I’m working, so there’s this weird little mental narrative behind the art.

In this case, despite having never seen or read Game of Thrones, I’ve been made aware of the whole Red Wedding thing. When the garnet paint (made with real garnets!) looked so much like blood dripped onto the paper, it made me think of that show, which in turn gave me this idea of some poor scribe, tasked with turning the ruined parchment into a decoration. And he had better do a good job, since he obviously knows what happened to the last people that crossed Lord Frey.

Red Wedding Decoration, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.

Red Wedding Decoration, detail, by Amy Crook

Red Wedding Decoration, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of the painstakingly detailed filigree pattern radiating out from each splatter of paint. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with the white circle emphasized by the way it intersects with the edge.

Red Wedding Decoration, framed art by Amy Crook

Red Wedding Decoration, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Dragonfly Trio

Posted on March 5th, 2014

Dragonfly Trio by Amy Crook

Dragonfly Trio by Amy Crook

Three filigree-winged, iridescent dragonflies flit across the matte surface of this gorgeous blue-purple background. A deep pond edged with fuchsias, perhaps, or a midnight puddle lit by Chinese lanterns. Their bodies and wings are painted with a duochrome paint that catches the sunlight, changing color depending on the angle just like the real thing.

Dragonfly Trio, 6″x4″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.

Dragonfly Trio, detail, by Amy Crook

Dragonfly Trio, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can get a hint of the way the dragonfly seems to float above the surface of the other paint when it properly catches the light. Below, it’s in a frame, reflected darkly back at itself in my phone.

Dragonfly Trio, framed art by Amy Crook

Dragonfly Trio, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
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