Archive for the ‘Completed Commissions’ Category

Whispering Gremlin for Jo VanEvery

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

Whispering Gremlin by Amy Crook, commission for Jo VanEvery

Whispering Gremlin by Amy Crook,
commission for Jo VanEvery
all rights reserved

When Jo VanEvery came to me asking if I would help create an illustration for her presentation in November, I was excited to draw something new. We went back and forth on just what a gremlin looked like, and we ended up with this little green guy whispering wicked self-doubt into the ear of his human.

This naughty boy likes to undermine his human’s confidence and sow the seeds of indecision, especially in grad students.

Since this is a commissioned piece, all rights are reserved, and it may not be reposted or reused anywhere, except by Jo, of course. Thanks!

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
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Chibi Catherine Caine

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

Chibi Catherine Caine by Amy Crook

Chibi Catherine Caine by Amy Crook

The latest of my cartoons is the awesome Catherine Caine! She asked for a chibi, which I haven’t gotten to do many of, and I had a lot of fun drawing her irresistible grin while she gave the world a big giant hug. I find this wonderfully appropriate, since Catherine’s enthusiasm for everyone and everything is unassailable by anything but rain.

She’s an Aussie, so instead of a cartoon North America as is usual around these parts, I got to draw a cartoon Southern Hemisphere, which was an interesting challenge since I’m less familiar with the necessary features of the geography there. One of my deep dark secrets is that I’m terrible with the whole social studies realm — geography, history, the works.

Catherine’s red corduroy trousers were striped with one of my awesome refillable Pilot fountain pens from Japan, which is my new favorite place to get art supplies. I almost forgot her awesome spiky ear plugs, since they were hidden in her hair in the photo I’d chosen for drawing her face, but she reminded me.

I love the bright, primary look of this piece, simplified and full of every bit of cheer that Catherine herself showers us with on a regular basis.

Stay Awesome, Catherine!

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
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Naomi’s Jack, and her Monster

Friday, October 8th, 2010

Naomi's Monster by Amy Crook

Naomi's Monster by Amy Crook

Back in May I offered three slots to draw people’s Monsters, so I could by Havi’s Monster Coloring Book. It’s taken a while to get both of us connected (she’s a busy one!), but I finally have the third one done, for Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz.

Naomi didn’t have a specific Monster she wanted colored, so she sent me some pictures of Jack and we talked a little, and I did a sketch for her of this friendly little hill monster offering Jack a pink rose (Naomi has a thing for pink roses. Who knew?). It took a while to get it from idea to finished product, but I love the cheerful green and pink result, a non-creepy monster for her to hang on the wall.

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange
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Elizabeth Halt

Friday, September 17th, 2010

Elizabeth Halt and Atlas by Amy Crook

Elizabeth Halt and Atlas by Amy Crook

Elizabeth and Atlas were originally drawn in my very first batch of cartoon client, but she recently came back to me asking for a couple of drawings for her website. What started out as two little illustrations we negotiated into a trio of illustrations and a quadruplet of matching buttons (the fourth one uses her original cartoon, above), working within her budget while getting her just what she was looking for.

The first illustration she wanted was for her “Postcards from Heaven” service (the inspiration for my own Love Notes), and in addition to the postbox that she asked for, a little postcard wanted to come along:

Postbox by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Postbox by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Postcard by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Postcard by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Then, after a bit of discussion, we decided on the image of a kneading kitten for her Reiki services — she’d wanted something that portrayed warmth and curiosity, and had suggested a Cheshire cat. After reading her descriptions of how Reiki works, the idea of a cat kneading at the various points on the body came to mind, and this is the result:

Reiki Kitty by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Reiki Kitty by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Then, after we figured out that there was room in her budget, Elizabeth decided to go for a fourth image, another drawing of her darling dog Atlas for her new animal Reiki service, titled “for the love of a weim.” He was a little more challenging to draw, but I ended up very happy with the result:

Atlas sleeping by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

Atlas sleeping by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

After that was done, all four of her images were resized and I made them into little buttons for her site, using screencaps to figure out what would look best in her sidebar. On her site they float in serene white down the side, but I added a bit of a border for their visit here.

4 website buttons by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

4 website buttons by Amy Crook for Elizabeth Halt

It goes without saying that, although many of the images on this site are usable through Creative Commons licensing, these commissioned images belong to Elizabeth alone.

“I am just in love with my new sidebar buttons from Amy. They are so me, and so perfect, and I really do not have enough words to say how much I love them.”

Elizabeth Halt

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
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Weeble Wednesday: Bridget Pilloud

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Bridget Pilloud by Amy Crook, annotated by Bridget

Bridget Pilloud by Amy Crook, annotated by Bridget

I had the chance to cartoon Bridget Pilloud as one of my very first cartoon clients, back when I was first experimenting with the offering. I had a great time working on her because she has a really clear sense of what makes the perfect “inner Bridget” as she put it — she wanted the designer boots she couldn’t afford in life, a fireball to show her inner fire, and clothes, hair and giant grin just like she has (or had — she’s got a cute pixy cut) in real life.

If you’d like to Be a Cartoon yourself, click on over — it takes me a couple of weeks these days because my schedule’s busier, but I’m loving all the fun results!

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
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Weeble Wednesday: Rey Magdael

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Rey Magdael by Amy Crook

Rey Magdael by Amy Crook

My good friend Rey & I shared a hotel room at a gaming con (not like that! sheesh), and as part of my half of the room expenses, he decided to be a cartoon. Art for hotel room, awesome! He was too lazy to tell me anything about what specifics he wanted, so I chose his props for him. Yes, this is one of the advantages of being someone I actually know in Real Life — surprise extras!

His iPhone is red because it’s got a skin on it — one he desperately needs for his coworkers, a reproduction of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters, and of course a Christmas present from me.

We had fun picking out the skin color for him, I made a bunch of lines on a little strip of paper and wrapped it around his arm. We were both amused that the Copic marker that matched best was called “Orientale.” It’s especially funny because their “Barely Beige” is distinctly pinker than “Baby Skin Pink,” so I rarely trust the names to be descriptive or useful. Score one for Japan, I guess!

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
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Holly Jackson & Cottage Copy

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Holly Jackson by Amy Crook

Holly Jackson by Amy Crook

Since it’s Sunday, I’ll repost another older cartoon that never made it up here on Antemortem — Holly Jackson and Sir Didymus of Cottage Copy! Holly wanted to show her mighty pen and scroll, and of course the Cottage Copy canine needed to put in his appearance.

He made a second appearance, along with another version of Holly, on the painting I did that eventually became the header for the Cottage Copy website:

Cottage Copy by Amy Crook

Cottage Copy by Amy Crook

Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces
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