Untitled (with Wolf)
Posted on May 5th, 2010
Untitled by Amy Crook and Wolf
This piece was painted years ago with my friend Wolf, an artist I’ve since lost touch with. We spent a couple of lazy afternoons with the painting laid out flat on the floor and acrylic paints all around us, finding agreement on the palette, one of us working in one place while the other worked on another, switching whenever it suited us. Our styles meshed well, though we only did the one piece together.
Despite the morbid subject matter, seeing it always reminds me of the possibility that happens when two artists work together to create something new to both.
Untitled, 18″x24″ acrylic on canvas.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: acrylic paint, nfs
Octopus
Posted on May 4th, 2010
Octopus by Amy Crook
Busy day, I nearly forgot to post — here, have an old doodle! I do have a fondness for sea life…
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
Tags: nfs, octopus, pen and ink, tentacles
2 Comments »
Key to My Heart
Posted on May 3rd, 2010
Key to My Heart, detail, by Amy Crook
It’s been a long time since I had a chance to cast in bronze, but I still have a few pieces left. In this one, a small, abstracted figure stands on a strange landscape of texture and shape, with a small keyhole in the center of his chest.
The entire sculpture is actually quite small — the figure is a bare 2″ tall, and his unusual landscape is 5″x7″ at its widest points, and 3″ tall where it curls up behind him.
Key to My Heart by Amy Crook
Key to My Heart by Amy Crook
I left on most of the random textures created by the casting process, and in fact the cavity from which the piece gets its name was created by the shrinking of metal away from the sprue at the point of contact. The hollow made such a perfect keyhole shape that I decided to keep it rather than filling it in.
Key to My Heart by Amy Crook
Key to My Heart by Amy Crook
The colors were created with a combination of chemical patina that was heated with a blow torch until it bonded with the metal, and the passage of time and the oils from being held by human hands. It will continue to evolve as the piece is exposed to handling and the environment, the browns growing richer and the patterns changing subtly.
Key to My Heart, 3″x5″x7″ cast bronze.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: bronze, for sale, key, sculpture
Flying Pig
Posted on May 2nd, 2010
Flying Pig by Amy Crook
One of my clients has a flying pig as their mascot. I recently did this card for one of the owners’ birthdays, just a little doodle with watercolor straight onto the blank card. I did a more elaborate version with a Santa hat for them for Christmas, but forgot to get a good picture of it. At least I managed to preserve this little piggy for posterity!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art
Tags: brush and ink, nfs, watercolor
2 Comments »
Arch the Sky
Posted on April 30th, 2010
Arch the Sky by Amy Crook
Arch the Sky is one of my favorite pieces. It hangs above my work station in a simple silver frame, which echoes the silver streaks in the painting. This was painted without a reference, inspired by the art on the covers of the original paperback editions of Storm Constantine’s Wraethuthu series. There was something about the graceful art with its obvious brush strokes that really spoke to me.
I tried to really emphasize the contrast between the smooth curve of his back, and the rough texture of the background and foreground, while still allowing them to interact with each other. The rain-like streaks were put in at the very end with oil paint sticks, and really added to the effect by connecting the figure to the background.
There is a sense of worship in the figure’s expression, the peace of belonging to and reverence for nature, for the sky and rain and earth and the environment he’s in.
This piece is fully framed, and ready to hang.
Arch the Sky, 16″x24″, oil on artboard.
Categories: Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: for sale, oil painting
Meet Carol’s Monster, Bernie
Posted on April 29th, 2010
Carol’s Monster Bernie by Amy Crook
I’d like you all to meet Bernie. He’s a little shy about his name, but we all know that even a Bernie can have a brave heart. He’s Carol’s bodyguard, and he helps keep things from hurting her. His helmet’s a little crooked, and his axe needs a bit of a sharpening, but he’s got a heart of gold — you can see it right there on his armor!
Bernie is Carol’s Monster, the first completed one from my Draw Your Monster sale a few weeks ago. As part of my Big Art Sale (to help me get to my 72-year-old Mom’s suddenly-moved-up wedding in 3 weeks), I’m offering them again, so if you missed out and wanted one, now’s the time.
As a note, since Bernie’s a commission, he’s not actually available for redistribution under the CC license mentioned below — all his rights and permissions belong to Carol now.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art
Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, commission, copic marker, monster, nfs, pen and ink
3 Comments »
Sad Simon
Posted on April 28th, 2010
Sad Simon by Amy Crook
I’ve had a few different models over the years, and this was one of the first. I spent several afternoons just taking photos of him, a lot of them in b&w, and used one of them as a reference on this piece. Though my talent was never really in photography, I still have some of those photographs, and his face or figure shows up from time to time in pieces I’m working on.
I remember sitting crosslegged with this page tacked to the wall in front of me, the photo to one side, and only two colors of pastel to use, the very pale blue and dark blue with a tinge of green, to provide shadow and light on the middle blue ground. I used to work like that for hours, and at the end when I finished the piece, there was a fine layer of chalk dust on the carpet right below — oops!
I have given this piece several titles over the years, and this is the one that it seems to come back to. The wistful, pensive expression on Simon’s face matches well with the blue chalks, and doesn’t seem to need extra words to convey its essential meaning.
This piece is fully framed, and ready to hang.
Sad Simon, 19″x25″, pastel on colored paper in metal frame.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: blue, for sale, pastel, portrait
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