Blog « Antemortem Arts | Art & Writing by Amy Crook

WIP: New Tiny Fandom art

Posted on February 11th, 2013

Work in Progress by Amy Crook

Work in Progress by Amy Crook

If you remember my Tiny Fandom series from last year with fondness, you’ll be happy to know I’m working on another installment. I’ve decided that, while last year was the Year of Spirals, this year I’m going to focus more on paintings that take multiple sessions to finish. This means you’ll likely see more posts like this one, with coy hints of what’s on the way, as well as more Instagram photos of my art table.

Categories: Daily Art, Works In Progress
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Shoggie Ornament

Posted on February 10th, 2013

Shoggie Ornament sketch by Amy Crook

Shoggie Ornament sketch by Amy Crook

I’m not sure I’d want this hung on my anything — tree, house, ankle… It looks unpleasantly gooey and bitey. Very bitey.

Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books
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Hedgehog & Otter Adventures

Posted on February 9th, 2013

Floating Along, dorky fan art by Amy Crook

Floating Along, dorky fan art by Amy Crook

If you’re on Tumblr or in my brain you’ll understand completely when I say this is actually Harry Potter/Sherlock crossover fan art with Animagus forms.

If you’re not, then look at the adorable otter and hedgehog. They’re floating! They’re friends!

There is, of course, the nap after to be considered as well. Those involved in the aforementioned fannish telepathy will know exactly which scarf is whose and why.

InterHouse Naptime, dorky fan art by Amy Crook

InterHouse Naptime, dorky fan art by Amy Crook

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Gold Spirals 2

Posted on February 8th, 2013

Gold Spirals 2, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook

Gold Spirals 2, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook

As promised on Monday, here’s the sequel to the first set of self-indulgent spirals. This one used the same 3 colors of gold, but a different duochrome accent. You can see how the layers build on one another from dark to light, with the duochrome adobe paint making a bright coppery splash in the upper right. Despite the sense of impending chaos, I find these rather peaceful to look at, a lovely mix of matte and metallic, deliberate and gestural.

Gold Spirals 2, metallic and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Gold Spirals 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Gold Spirals 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, I’ve shot this from the corner so it looks almost like sunlight filtering down in swirls rather than rays, exaggerating the contrast from dark to light. Below, you can see this painting and its predecessor on my lovely antique desk. I’ve taken the glass out of the frames to help with glare, and you can see my iPhone hanging out for scale.

Gold Spirals 1 & 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Gold Spirals 1 & 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
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Y is for Yarn

Posted on February 7th, 2013

Y is for Yarn, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook

Y is for Yarn, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook

I was having trouble thinking of something good to do for Y, when the lovely ladies in the Starship suggested what was to them the obvious solution – yarn! I got a skein of handdyed cotton yarn from the wonderful Blonde Chicken Boutique, and then set to work. She sent me this gorgeous variegated light pink, so I used my favorite periwinkle paint and purple gel pen to create a background that looked like a tangle of yarn, then embroidered in the letter and border with the lovely pink yarn. I glued the paper to a cardboard backing so it wouldn’t tear through, and now it’s all ready for your favorite knitter, Yael or Yakov.

Y is for Yarn, 5″x5″ handdyed yarn, Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on paper and cardboard.

Y is for Yarn, detail, by Amy Crook

Y is for Yarn, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the shine of light off the purple glitter, and the textures of real and imagined yarn juxtaposed on the mottled periwinkle background. Below, the Y is hanging out with W and A to make WAY on my desk.

W is for Watercolor, A is for Arabesque and Y is for Yarn, framed art by Amy Crook

W is for Watercolor, A is for Arabesque and Y is for Yarn, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Illuminated Alphabet, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Visions of the Moon

Posted on February 6th, 2013

From filigree and spirals to quiet realism, I’ve painted many moons over the past few years. Enjoy a few of them.

(If you’re looking at this in an email, you might want to click through to see the post where there’s actual layout.)

Eye of the Moon by Amy Crook, $250

Vampire Moon by Amy Crook, $199

Violet Midnight 2 by Amy Crook, $242

Green Cheese Moon, detail, by Amy Crook

Filigree Moon 2, detail 2, by Amy Crook

 

 

 

Dusk Moon by Amy Crook, $250

Milk White Moon by Amy Crook, $323

Demonsreach, detail, by Amy Crook

Fairytale Sky 4 by Amy Crook, $199

Moonglow by Amy Crook, $323

Midnight Blue, art by Amy Crook, $333

Silver Lining by Amy Crook, $350

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Tentacle Deeps 46

Posted on February 5th, 2013

Tentacle Deeps 46 by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 46 by Amy Crook

Something new for the tentacles today! I used the same metallic watercolors from yesterday’s Gold Spirals, though I painted the background on this a while ago, so they weren’t actually sharing a palette. Then tentacles as usual in an opaque Japanese greenish black, and finally the runes borrowed from The Stars Are Right series crawling in shining red up the surface of each, wrapping around and writhing right along with them. I had originally considered doing the runes in green, but I decided the dull glow of red glitter pen would work better for this painting.

Tentacle Deeps 46, 6″x4″ Japanese and metallic watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.

Tentacle Deeps 46, detail, by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 46, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the runes curve and writhe with the tentacles, against the background that fades upward from rose to lemon gold. Below, you can see it tucked safely into a frame where it won’t harm anyone. Just don’t look too closely at the runes if you want to keep all of your sanity intact.

Tentacle Deeps 46, framed art by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 46, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
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