Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category

Son of Weeble

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Son of Weeble cartoon by Amy Crook

Son of Weeble by Amy Crook

I admit it, I ran out of finished weeble cartoons for my Wednesdays and had to just doodle something up. I started out just drawing up a “blank” weeble – shape of the head and body, arms and hands and feet. The idea of doing a blank-faced one then made me think of Magritte’s Son of Man, and thus I give you Son of Weeble to weird up your Wednesday.

I gave myself the rule of only using pens within reach to shade him, which is why his clothes are a light grey and his skin left paper white. Maybe next time I’ll bring out the Really Useful Box o’ Sharpies before I get started, I’m pretty sure I have a better range of pinks and browns there.

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Lovecrafty

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Lovecrafty mixed media art by Amy Crook

Lovecrafty by Amy Crook

While some pieces come together with effortless synchronicity, others are a struggle from start to finish. This piece was definitely one of the latter, but I’m finally happy with the end result. There’s just something that really amuses me in the way it seems like a cross between Lovecraftian horror and a 12-year-old girl’s diary.

The grey writing is done with a brush pen usually used for shading, the barely-legible words are a couple of especially creepy quotes from HP Lovecraft’s fiction. Blank spaces on the left were filled in with single words or shorter phrases, giving the whole thing a sense of mad, frantic writing, the deranged mind getting out what it’s seen. Or, possibly more insanity-inducing, the inner feelings of a pre-teen.

The images themselves are layered, everything from printer ink to sharpie marker, watercolor to pen and ink. I used water to blur things left and right and there’s even a tiny bit of salt texture, though it doesn’t take very well on this type of paper. I considered adding some tentacle monster green into the mix to dull down the overall cheeriness of the palette, but in the end I couldn’t resist the juxtaposition of color and intent.

Lovecrafty, 5″x7″ pen & ink, watercolor, Sharpie marker and salt on paper.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Moleskine Cahier: Limned

Monday, May 2nd, 2011

Limned, customized Moleskine Cahier journal by Amy Crook

Limned, customized Moleskine Cahier journal by Amy Crook

I’ve had a little pile of these Moleskine Cahier journals sitting with my drawing supplies for weeks now, but haven’t been really inspired for what to do with them. I took one to bed with me to ponder one night when I was too wound up to sleep but tired of my usual workspaces, and after a while this idea came to mind. It’s very similar in form to another piece, Growth, but in this case the form itself is a negative space limned by a cluster of silver dots, rather than the painted circle in the first piece.

Limned, 3.5″x5.5″ silver Sharpie on Moleskine Cahier journal, $23 with free shipping.

Cahier Journals sport a heavy-duty black 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.

Because of the simplicity of the art on the front, I chose to sign & date this one on the back instead.

Limned, customized Moleskine, back, by Amy Crook

Limned, customized Moleskine, back, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Moleskines, Series and Books
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The 11th Doctor

Saturday, April 30th, 2011

The 11th Doctor cartoon sketch by Amy Crook

The 11th Doctor by Amy Crook

After all the time I’ve spent drawing cartoon Sherlock and Watson, I decided to go ahead and do Moffat’s other cheekbone-powered character, Doctor Who. The 11th Doctor was similar enough to Sherlock in features to give me a good starting point, but different enough to make it fun.

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Zen Comma

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Zen Comma brush and ink art by Amy Crook

Zen Comma by Amy Crook

I painted the central “zen circle” swish of this piece and then let it sit for a while. It looked so much like a comma, and the blue-black watercolor was so stark against the white, it really needed some words to go with it. I debated on a quote, on writing something myself, on printing or handwriting, and eventually came up with this. It’s one of my favourite quotes from a book, the end of a longer piece about the way we integrate pain into our views of the world.

Zen Comma, 6″x4″ watercolor, brush pen and ink on watercolor postcard, $99 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Water Lilies 1

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Water Lilies 1 watercolor by Amy Crook

Water Lilies 1, watercolor by Amy Crook

This whole piece was an experiment, but I’m really happy with the results. The electric blue ink of the pen I used originally dissolved completely in the drops of water that beaded up on the paper, and the rocks of salt I put in the center of each little spiral did as well. Then the water took a full day to dry, the salt crystallizing back out onto the paper to form the three-dimensional baby blue “flowers.” I went in afterward and painted in the lily pads around each flower, letting the paint smudge and dissolve a bit of the salt, giving the whole thing an impressionist, watery feeling.

I liked it so much I’ve framed it to put on my bookshelf, and started another, similar piece with more color.

Water Lilies 1, 7″x5″ pen & ink, watercolor, and salt on watercolor paper.

Water Lilies 1, progress 1, by Amy Crook

Water Lilies 1, progress 1, by Amy Crook

Above you can see the water beaded up, the blue ink swirling up into the drops, and the salt crystal hiding in the middle of each. Below, the result a day later, when the water had completely evaporated, leaving salt and ink in a new configuration.

Water Lilies 1, progress 2, by Amy Crook

Water Lilies 1, progress 2, by Amy Crook

Water Lilies 1, progress 3, by Amy Crook

Water Lilies 1, progress 3, by Amy Crook

Above you can see how the paper is gently warped, and the salt crystals rise up above it in robin’s egg blue and rich, watery green. Below, a shot of the piece in its frame, all ready to be hung on the wall, put on a bookshelf, or to decorate your desk.

Water Lilies 1, framed watercolor by Amy Crook

Water Lilies 1, framed, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Weeble Wednesday: Bride of Frankenstein

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

Bride of Frankenstein cartoon by Amy Crook

Bride of Frankenstein by Amy Crook

I’ve finally colored the very last bonus bride from my Monster Heart Coloring Book. She was so simple to do, I’m not sure why I put her off — just some very subtle light shading and her red-black lipstick and pale skin, really. She makes a lovely companion to Frankenstein’s Monster, and I’m sure he’s eager to give her his heart. Her eyes are even the same green that tinges most of his patchwork skin.

Bride of Frankenstein, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic Markers on watercolor paper, $69 with free shipping.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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