Tentacle Spiral 1
Posted on January 3rd, 2012

Tentacle Spiral 1 by Amy Crook
I was mucking about with washes, and I thought I’d do something a little different with this pale, almost flesh-toned wash I did on one of my last blank handmade postcards from India. The lunar black paint made exquisite textures as it granulated and pooled in the surface of the card, giving the tentacles a half-real feeling.
I like this effect with the tentacles spiralling in from all sides, so I’ve optimistically called this #1 in the hopes that I manage a series out of it.
Tentacle Spiral 1, 6″x4″ watercolor on handmade postcard.
I took a close-up of one of the spirals so you can really see the texture.

Tentacle Spiral 1, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, spirals, tentacle spiral, tentacles, watercolor
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Autumn Breeze
Posted on January 2nd, 2012

Autumn Breeze by Amy Crook
I wanted to revisit the autumnal color palette of Autumn Winds, so I created this piece with different materials. The paper is a thick, soft cream-coloured printing paper, and the little spirals use quinacridone burnt orange paint instead of the less lightfast pen ink, though the pigment doesn’t infuse as well into the salt. Instead of tea there’s all watercolor paints for the rest, breezy spirals gathered around each salt pool like strange seeds tossed on a light fall breeze.
Autumn Breeze, 8″x6″ watercolor and salt on Arches cover white paper.
Below you can see how the salt crystals spread a little into the textured paper without going too far outside their original pool. The actual color of the piece is somewhere in between the two images, more saturated than the scan but less so than the detail photo.

Autumn Breeze, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: brown, for sale, gold, orange, salt, watercolor
Cthulhu with a Kitten doodle
Posted on December 30th, 2011

Cthulhu with a Kitten sketch by Amy Crook
Another little Coloring Book doodle! Cthulhu is quite dubious that he’s not supposed to eat the kitten, but I’m sure he’ll come around.
Happy New Year!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: coloring book, cthulhu, kitten, lovecraft, nfs, pen and ink, sketch
Ninja at Night
Posted on December 29th, 2011
Another gift painting, this one by request, sort of, from the person who bought me the Japanese watercolor set for my birthday. After seeing the raised, opaque way it dried on my two Radial Symmetry paintings, he mentioned that he’d like to see how black-on-black would look, and thus, a ninja crept into being.
Ninja at Night, 5″x5″ watercolor on paper, not for sale.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: black, nfs, ninja, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 23
Posted on December 27th, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 23 by Amy Crook
It’s the ghost of tentacles past! Or possibly tentacles future. Who can tell.
There’s a subtle blue-violet tint to the background on this piece that comes through where the white paint picked up the background color.
Tentacle Deeps 23, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper.
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Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: for sale, ghost, purple, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Cuppa Watercolor
Posted on December 26th, 2011
I painted this image with prints in mind, and then Photoshop and I had irreconcilable differences about the color. I managed to get a decent one made for a certain Christmas present, but I swear I wasn’t speaking to my Adobe products for a few days afterward.
Apparently one culprit is the bright teal paint I used for the cup, which is a color my scanner seems to hate, not to mention the issues it has with pale colors of any sort, such as the shadow under the spoon that’s been rendered invisible.
Regardless, I really liked how the original came out, a peaceful cup of tea brewing, just waiting to brighten up someone’s day.
Cuppa Watercolor, 6″x6″ watercolor on paper.
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, tea, teal, watercolor
Old-Fashioned Ornaments, set 2
Posted on December 23rd, 2011

Old-Fashioned Ornaments, set 2, by Amy Crook
Pardon the terrible photography, I’ll try to take a better one when the sun’s back up. I finally managed to assemble my second set of old-fashioned paper ornaments, this one with slightly different art. I kept the star but hung it at a different angle, and then made Cthulhu himself and an Elder Sign (Lovecraft style) to go with it.
These ornaments are a huge pain to make, but it’s almost fun in that way where it appeals to my meticulous nature, so I might make a few extra sets next year. We’ll see!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Tentacles
Tags: christmas, crosshatching, cthulhu, lovecraft, pen and ink
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