The Orange Ones Are Poison
Posted on May 30th, 2013
The Orange Ones Are Poison by Amy Crook, 10 in. x 8 in. Japanese watercolor on Japanese paper
The reference is, of course, from a ridiculous internet meme.
The original, in all its cat meme glory.
Above, you can see the image that inspired the caption, though I will admit I already had the silly yellow cat. Below, you can see a close up of his face and the bright orange-red “mouse’ toy by his head.
The Orange Ones Are Poison, detail, by Amy Crook
And finally, you can see it in a frame, next to a suspiciously orange octopus plushie. I recommend not eating the toy, just to be safe.
The Orange Ones Are Poison, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: cat, for sale, japanese watercolor, meme, watercolor
How to Paint a Goldfish
Posted on May 29th, 2013
Except not really, since this is mostly about how the background came to be. But I thought you’d enjoy seeing some shots of yesterday’s art coming to life, anyway!
Categories: Daily Art, Works In Progress
Tags: how it happened, wordless weds
Goldfish
Posted on May 28th, 2013
Goldfish, watercolor by Amy Crook
Last Thursday I finally got around to tearing some big sheets of paper I had into smaller, more Amy-sized sheets. Then I just had to play with the results, so I asked a friend to pick a color, and she said gold.
After a bit of playing and a bit of waiting, I ended up with this very bright red-orange-yellow background. Then I flipped it over, and found a fish in the shapes. I used a dark red and my lovely duochrome orange-gold paint to bring out the shape of this little guy, just a few strokes of paint to make a fishy.
Goldfish, 10″x8″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Goldfish, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shine of the paint I used to put some of the gold in the goldfish. Below, the piece is sitting in a frame, and you can see how vibrant the colors really are.
Goldfish, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: duochrome, fish, for sale, orange, portfolio, watercolor
2 Comments »
One for Sorrow
Posted on May 27th, 2013
One for Sorrow by Amy Crook
I hope you’re enjoying your Memorial Day weekend! This little crow is painted with ink and watercolor on some soft Japanese “sketch” paper which warps the moment I look at it damply. It’s soft and nicely textured, but won’t stay flat to save my life. I like the crow, though, and the bits of rainbow oil-slick color in his feathers. The wrinkles in the paper form a sort of halo around him, little harbinger of sorrow that he is.
One for Sorrow, 10″x8″ Japanese watercolor and sumi-e ink on Japanese paper.
One for Sorrow, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the texture in the paper and the wibbly wobbly warping from the ink wash. I discounted his price a bit to account for the strange paper, and you can see below how it fits fine into a frame but still refuses to flatten out.
One for Sorrow, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, for sale, japanese watercolor, sumi-e ink
1 Comment »
Sunday Round-up & Cat sketch
Posted on May 26th, 2013
tentacles and brains and monsters, oh my!
Another week, another half dozen oddities. Monday the monsters got put down for a nap, and Tuesday I indulged in a big bowl of Brainton Soup. Wednesday I gave you all a peek into some of the things I’m working on. Thursday there was a completely awesome recipe for ice cream bread, and Friday this angler fish offered to eat it, and you. Finally, Saturday Cthulhu showed you his Ace of Hearts.
And now that it’s Sunday, there’s a sketch! I’ve been working on more animals, and so I sketched up this cat in my wee sketchbook to try to get his design more refined.
Cat sketch by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sunday Round-Up
Tags: pencil, sketch
2 Comments »
Ace of Cthulhu Hearts
Posted on May 25th, 2013
Ace of Cthulhu Hearts by Amy Crook
One of my friends asked me for a playing card prop for her Lady Luck costume at a con this weekend, and so I used my Cthulhu’s heart art and popped it into a quickie design. If I was going to do the cards for real, I’d probably do something more elaborate for the background, but I didn’t feel like fighting with the white background on the heart image. I printed a page of them on cardstock for her to cut up into a prop (I put 9 on the page so she’d have plenty of extras), and she’s planning to put one in the brim of her top hat.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: cthulhu
Angler Fish 1
Posted on May 24th, 2013
Angler Fish 1 by Amy Crook, $250
After I painted this bloody red background, deliberately deep and dark, I thought that a glowing blue Angler fish would be the perfect thing to go on top of it. I love the contrast between the abstract, color-field-like painting in the background, all matte and dark Japanese watercolors that sank into the textured black paper, and the drawing-like simplicity of the fish on top. She’s got deceptive amounts of detail, from the subtle shading on her creepy blank eye to the deliberate comic “shine” marks around her phosphorescent lure. The paint itself is a little bit shiny, with some duochrome Aquamarine mixed in with the white and turquoise to create a shiny paint that sits on top of the background rather than blending in.
Also, she’s magnificently creepy. Win!
Angler Fish 1, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper, $250 with free shipping.
Angler Fish 1, work in progress, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the murky background painting along with the little pre-sketch I did to fix the design in my head. I didn’t want to pencil directly onto the paint, so I just doodled it on a bit of scratch paper instead. Below, you can see a close-up of the angler’s lure and her shiny paint looking very bright against the matte depths behind her.
Angler Fish 1, detail, by Amy Crook
And finally, you can see the fish in her frame! I keep saying her because, of course, male angler fish are wee, pathetic little things doomed to die in the service of their species. I feel comfortable putting these links off my site here, because none of you ever read this far down, anyway.
Angler Fish 1, framed art by Amy Crook
- Title: Angler Fish 1
- 7 in. x 5 in. watercolor, Japanese watercolor, and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper
- $250 for the original (tax will be added if you live in CA)
- Frame is not included, but can be added for $50 (shipping included)
- Shipping is free anywhere in the world
- Payment plans are available, just email me
- The button below will take you to Paypal – if you’d like to pay another way, just let me know and we’ll work it out
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: angler fish, black paper, fish, for sale, iridescent, japanese watercolor, watercolor
2 Comments »
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
