Blog « Antemortem Arts | Art & Writing by Amy Crook

Bloodstone Falls

Posted on April 2nd, 2016

Bloodstone Falls, abstract art by Amy Crook

Bloodstone Falls, 12″x9″ Primatek and iridescent watercolor on Bristol

Beautiful bloodstone mineral pigment is mixed in with iridescent scarab red to create an earthy blend with a secret shimmer. The green sparkle shows up in strong light, like emeralds caught in the flow of river silt.

Even though the Bristol is a very smooth surface, the bloodstone still granulated gorgeously, adding a subtle texture to the image.

This Pathways painting would be perfect for an earth witch, with its half-seen shapes and magical secrets hiding in the abstract neutral tones.

Bloodstone Falls, detail, by Amy Crook

Bloodstone Falls, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the iridescent green pigment catching the light, surrounded by the reddish brown of the bloodstone mineral. Below, the piece is in a frame, all ready to find its place on a wall, desk, or in a secret niche.

Bloodstone Falls, framed art by Amy Crook

Bloodstone Falls, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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Ullage

Posted on March 29th, 2016

Ullage, word art by Amy Crook

Ullage: the amount that a vessel lacks being full
5″x7″ brush & ink and Primatek watercolor on paper – $45

This past Wednesday’s word is actually a term from beer and winemaking, yum! A cask or bottle of wine or beer requires a certain amount of ullage in order for the little yeasties to do the fermenting, but too much and you’ve shorted your measure.

I still wanted to bring that whole “glass half empty” metaphor into it, at least visually, so I went for a glass rather than a bottle or cask. I painted this whole thing live on Persicope; come join me some Wednesday around 2-3pm Pacific.

In the meantime, I hope your glass is just as full as you want it to be, of whatever suits!

Categories: Pretty Words, Series and Books
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Tea: 11th Doctor

Posted on March 24th, 2016

Tea: 11th Doctor, commission art by Amy Crook

Tea: 11th Doctor, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

One of my favourite patrons commissioned me to draw a series of 4 little comic portraits of her favourite characters with their favourite teas. Favourites all around!

This first piece in the Tea Series is the Eleventh Doctor, drinking delicately out of his decorated cup and saucer. I’d like to say the Time Lord knows better than to put milk or sugar in his oolong, but this is a man deeply fond of fish fingers and custard in combination, so who knows.

We’ll get to the other three next month, after the Floating Gallery has drifted away.

Categories: Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Tmesis

Posted on March 22nd, 2016

Temsis, word art by Amy Crook

Tmesis: a word or phrase that is split in two and another word is added in the middle
7″x5″ pen & ink and Primatek watercolor on paper – $70

Grammar words are the best words. Today’s fan-bloody-tastic example is “tmesis,” which is also the only word in the English language to start with ‘tm.’

I did the inks for this on Periscope, and then took a few days to pick a lovely Primatek palette of three beautifully granulating natural pigments to keep with the pointy goth theme. The rusty Minnesota Pipestone had a tendency to smudge and travel on me, so I went with that and added a “bloody” fingerprint over the tmesis in my tmesis.

Dreamt is the only word to end in ‘mt.’

Tmesis, work in progress by Amy Crook

Tmesis, work in progress by Amy Crook

Categories: Pretty Words, Series and Books
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March Patreon Art

Posted on March 17th, 2016

4 bookmarks by Amy Crook, pen & ink and Copic marker

4 bookmarks by Amy Crook, 1.5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on comic backing board

My wonderful backers on Patreon this month gave me some great prompts, and so we have a dragon, a cat, some spring flowers, and Rory from Gilmore Girls. I was apparently feeling the purple, though to be fair I knew the dragon person liked purple, and I’ve always associated spring with lilacs.

If you’d like to see me sketch to your specs next month, become a patron yourself!

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Wimble

Posted on March 15th, 2016

Wimble, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook

Wimble: Any of several boring tools, such as a gimlet or an auger; to bore with.
7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

This was only the second Word Art Wednesday, and I’ve already resorted to terrible puns. I don’t think this bodes well for you all, but hopefully you’ll enjoy them anyway.

I’ll be doing another of these tomorrow on Periscope, probably around 2pm Pacific. Come join me! Or watch me. Or at least my hands. Something.

Categories: People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Stirious

Posted on March 11th, 2016

Sitirious, word art by Amy Crook

Stirious: like or consisting of icicles
5″x7″ interference and duochrome watercolor, pencil, and pen & ink on paper – $45

Technically, this is last week’s word art, but I waited until this week to post it because reasons.

I’m starting a new art series, hearkening back to the daily project from last November and doing Word Art Wednesdays on Periscope. I’m usually going to be on around 2pm Pacific, if you want to come along and see what I’m doing — I’ve decided to color the inks from this Wednesday, so that’ll post next week in all its punny glory.

This particular bit of word art was painted in lovely shiny special effects watercolors, and you can see in my original Instagram post below how that looks when it’s not all flattened out by the scanner.

Stirious, word art by Amy Crook

ooooh, shiny

Categories: Pretty Words, Series and Books
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