Blog « Antemortem Arts | Art & Writing by Amy Crook

2011 Starcycles Calendar Cover

Posted on December 9th, 2010

2011 Starcycles Calendar, cover by Amy Crook

2011 Starcycles Calendar, cover by Amy Crook

Way back in 1999, Georgia Stathis first approached me to take over the design on her then-print astrology dayplanner-style calendar. We’ve skipped a few years here and there, but this year I painted several images in watercolor and then put them together with Photoshop to create this dreamy image for Year of the Rabbit. Georgia’s 2011 Calendar is available as a pdf download, or she’ll print and bind them for an additional charge. You could even print your own and have it hole-punched to fit in a Dayplanner, if you wanted.

I’m just starting to get a feel for using watercolors, so this was a great excuse for me to get them out and experiment, knowing I could fix any issues in Photoshop later. My favorite part is the subtle “rabbit in the moon” version of the moon’s shadows popular in Chinese mythology.

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Weeble Wednesday: HP Weebles

Posted on December 8th, 2010

HP Weebles by Amy Crook

HP Weebles by Amy Crook

This is one of the first refine weeble-style drawings I ever did, back a few years ago when I was just perfecting the style. It’s meant to be Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry Potter & Charlie Weasley, with Kingsley and Charlie showing off their respective awesomenesses to a properly impressed Harry. I’ve always liked the way it came out, from the expressions to the adorable little dragonet. And you can see how these little guys developed into the weebles I draw today.

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Watercolor Ornaments

Posted on December 7th, 2010

2 Watercolor Ornaments by Amy Crook

2 Watercolor Ornaments by Amy Crook

A few years back I painted a bunch of one-of-a-kind cards for a friend, and these were two of my favorites. The metallic paint I used for the designs didn’t scan too well, but it does give you the sense of glittery reflectiveness with all the false colors scattered in among the gold and silver. I was trying not to spend more than 15 minutes or so on each card, though I’m pretty sure I cheated on the red ornament’s intricate gold designs.

Happy Holidays!

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art
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More Coloring Book Doodles

Posted on December 6th, 2010

I’ve been busy this holiday season and I keep falling behind on my art posts! So, here, have some more doodles done for fine recipients of my Cthulhu Coloring Book.

Evil Mermaid sketch by Amy Crook

Evil Mermaid sketch by Amy Crook

Weeble Ninja sketch by Amy Crook

Weeble Ninja sketch by Amy Crook

Mad Scientist With Gas Mask sketch by Amy Crook

Mad Scientist With Gas Mask sketch by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Custom Character Moleskines

Posted on December 4th, 2010

Custom Character Portrait Moleskine Cahier Plain Journals by Amy Crook, $29

Custom Character Portrait Moleskine Cahier Plain Journals by Amy Crook

Get your favorite character put on a pocket journal just for you — or give one as a gift certificate for the holidays. Take notes with Spock, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, or whoever tickles your fancy.

These are available in two styles, the soft pencil sketch or stark Sharpie marker relief, as shown above. One character per journal, please.

Cahier Journals sport a heavy-duty kraft brown cardboard cover, with visible thread stitching on the spine. Inside each journal you’ll find acid-free paper pages and a spacious pocket for notes or clippings. Size: 3.5 x 5.5 in. (9 x 14 cm), 64 plain pages each, last 16 sheets detachable.

Custom Moleskines – $29 apiece, with free first class shipping. Priority Mail shipping is available, or I can send you a pdf gift certificate if you’d like to give one as a gift!

Or read on to see examples of all the ones I’ve done so far (all sold, I’m afraid!). Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Toby

Posted on December 3rd, 2010

Toby by Amy Crook

Toby by Amy Crook

Back before I ever did a NaNoWriMo, I briefly considered doing a webcomic — the intensive schedule forces one to really develop a style and refine it quickly, which sounded more appealing than slogging through years more of feeling like an incompetent. In the long run, though, I decided that I just didn’t have the motivation to keep up a comic schedule, shelved the idea and turned it into my very first NaNoWriMo win.

This is Toby, one of the two main characters from Makeshift. It’s one of the first things I ever did using Copic markers, which then languished on my shelf for a long time before I picked them back up and got busy learning the long, hard way to suck less.

Toby, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic markers on sketchbook paper, not for sale.

Categories: Daily Art, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
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Dancer Shard

Posted on December 2nd, 2010

Dancer Shard by Amy Crook

Dancer Shard by Amy Crook

Another piece that shows my fascination with dancers! This one is also long lost to the mists of time, or possibly in that one box on that shelf I can’t actually get to right now. There was a local shop that made stained glass windows and would let me come raid the stuff that was broken for interesting pieces. The background is painted in pearlescent white on a thick shard of semi-opaque buff stained glass, and the foreground daubed in wetly with a fat brush and barely-mixed colours for a rough, abstract effect.

From what I recall this piece is about 3″x5″ or a little smaller, heavy in the hand.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
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