Bound Angel 2
Posted on November 5th, 2010
Bound Angel 2 by Amy Crook
This is the second version of yesterday’s drawing, this time a stone lithograph. The process involved in this one gave it a more scribbly feel, and the haloing effect washed out the face, and obscured the arms in stark black shadow.
The feel of this image is different than the first version for me, despite being essentially the same thing. It’s rougher, more abstract, as though the angel has begun to fade into his component parts, the whiteout glow of his halo making the shadows deeper and obscuring detail where it’s the brightest.
I ran 6 of these before clearing the stone for other use, on a heavy grey acid-free art paper. The edges of each one are hand-torn so they’re all slightly irregular, and there’s inky fingerprints around the borders of each one as a testament to their handmade nature.
Bound Angel 2, 14″x7″ stone lithograph on art paper, edition of 6, $99 each with free shipping.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
Tags: angel, for sale, lithograph
Bound Angel 1
Posted on November 4th, 2010
Bound Angel 1 by Amy Crook
This pencil drawing was the first of 2 images, the second of which is a stone lithograph I’ll post tomorrow. His bindings are invisible, but you can see how his posture hangs as if in chains, face downturned as if contemplating the sin that brought him to this pass.
I’ve always had a fascination with religious imagery, the history and faith that are imbued into these images, the layered ideals and disappointments that each person brings to the viewing. Even if the image is purely representational, every viewer has layers of mental baggage to add to it that makes the piece a unique experience for them.
The graphite goes all the way to the edges of this acid-free bristol board; the black border you can see here is the scanner background. The board is heavy enough to stand on its own in a bookshelf or on a tiny easel, or the image could easily be framed for display.
Bound Angel 1, 6.5″x5″ graphite on bristol board, $99 with free shipping.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
Tags: angel, for sale, pencil
Weeble Wednesday: Obligatory Cultist
Posted on November 3rd, 2010
Cultist by Amy Crook
After doing all those other Lovecraftian monsters, I decided that one thing my coloring book needed was a proper hooded-robed cultist to worship them. He’s wearing the Elder Sign as sketched by Lovecraft (rather than the more star-like version used in Arkham Horror), and chanting in some sanity-rending ancient tongue in his attempts to summon Cthulhu, or one of the other Great Old Ones. Or maybe just a Shoggoth, who knows.
You can find him and a bunch of the monsters he’s trying to summon in my Cthulhu Coloring Book on Etsy, which you can buy either as a pdf or a printed book.
Cultist, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on watercolor paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
Tags: copic marker, cthulhu, cultist, ia ia cthulhu fthagn, pen and ink, weeble
Honeycake
Posted on November 2nd, 2010
This recipe started out life in the Winnie the Pooh Cookery Book and then was extensively altered from its original form as a birthday cake.
Basically, every single time I read a fantasy novel, someone is having sticky, delicious honeycakes, and I really wanted to get in on that. But I couldn’t find a recipe that sounded right, so I started with this one and altered it and altered it and messed with it until I got the dense, spiced, super sweet honeyed cake that I’d always imagined.
When this cake is baked up it’s heavy and a bit sticky, and goes wonderfully with a good cup of tea. Experiment to find the just-right baking time for you; my original recipe said 20-25 minutes, but I ended up going about 40 with the white whole wheat flour and that wasn’t quite enough. (Note: I have since had my oven fixed and get shorter baking times these days.)
1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour (I’ve made this with alternative flours with good results, too)- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp cardamon
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup honey (spray measuring cup with cooking oil before adding honey for easier pouring)
- powdered sugar and/or nutmeg, for decoration
Preheat oven to 375° F. Sift dry ingredients together. While mixing, slowly add milk, eggs, softened butter, vanilla & honey. I mixed up the milk, eggs, and vanilla, then alternated milk mixture with honey, adding in the butter somewhere in the middle. When a creamy batter has formed (mmm), pour into 1 greased 9-inch round cake pan. Bake for 20-30 minutes (watching carefully if your oven is at all like mine) or until brown around the edges, and a cake tester comes out with just crumbs and no batter goo.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or nutmeg and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Use stencils to create pretty patterns if you’re a big dork or Martha Stewart.
Serves 12 (or 6 if you’re like me).
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: bear, food, honey, recipe, sharpie marker
4 Comments »
Whiteboard Doodles Redux
Posted on November 1st, 2010
My scanner’s on the fritz, so instead of a recipe, you get more expectation-free art from my whiteboard. Lucky you! Photos taken with my iPhone, and therefore of approximately the same quality as the art. 😉
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: nfs, silly, whiteboard
2 Comments »
In the Forest of the Night
Posted on October 30th, 2010
In the Forest of the Night by Amy Crook
This was an exercise in patience for me. Hours and hours spent with very sharp pencils putting the detail in one delicate stroke at a time, never too much at once. I love the texture it ended up with, especially the swirling background that seems to be nearly as mysterious as the tiger-striped man in the foreground. I especially love the way the young man seems to be emerging from, or being swallowed by, the dark background, the shadows an inherent part of his identity.
At one point in the life of this piece, someone set a glass of sticky white wine down on it — feeling of course that art on top of an antique desk would make a great coaster, I suppose. Another three hours went into the repairs, which are nearly invisible now, thank goodness. Homicide averted!
In the Forest of the Night, pencil on museum board, 5″x5″, $999 with free shipping.
The stiff bristol board this is drawn on would lean in a bookshelf, but the art would really be better off matted or framed. I’m happy to frame it for you for a small additional fee.
Categories: Floating Gallery
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