Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category

Halflight

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Halflight by Amy Crook

Halflight by Amy Crook

This simple abstract monoprint has some soft texture of the water-based inks sinking into the paper at the bottom, streaked with red hiding among the charcoal grey. Brush strokes appear as streaks of light coming down from above, bringing out the purple in the grey.

Halflight, 3″x3″ monoprint on 10″x10″ watercolor paper, $199 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Sea Turtle

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Sea Turtle by Amy Crook

Sea Turtle by Amy Crook

After I painted a sea turtle for my contest winner, I decided I wanted to do another one just for the heck of it. This little painting depicts a green sea turtle swimming in shallow ocean waters, frolicking through the sunbeams streaming in from above. He’s a perfect size to fit in a little niche on a bookshelf, desk, or side table.

Sea Turtle, 2.75″ x 2.75″ oil on canvas, nfs (sold). This painting comes with a little 5″ wooden easel for display.

Sea Turtle, step 1, by Amy Crook

Sea Turtle, step 1, by Amy Crook

First, I laid down the background, fading from the sunlit top of the water to a clear blue near the bottom, including the edges of the tiny canvas. Then I added in the turtle himself, or at least his shape, which had to dry before I could put in his details and create the charming fellow you see above.

Sea Turtle, step 2, by Amy Crook

Sea Turtle, step 2, by Amy Crook

You can see how the finished product looks on a shelf with some other tiny paintings (and a little friend) here:

4 tiny underwater scenes by Amy Crook

4 tiny underwater scenes by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Shadows and Balances

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Shadows and Balances by Amy Crook

Shadows and Balances by Amy Crook

This is another monoprint created with layer upon layer of ink, running the paper through the press several times. I inked some of my small etching plates with the monoprint ink, which obscures the actual image etched on the plate and turns it into just another abstract shape in the composition. A total of 7 plates were used in this piece, some of them blank and some etched.

Shadows and Balances, 18″x26″ monoprint on 22″x30″ watercolor paper, $399 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Squid sketch

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

Squid sketch by Amy Crook

Squid sketch by Amy Crook

I found this hiding among my old scans today, I believe he was a little sketch I did on a greeting card for a friend. There’s just something fun about drawing the curl and sway of tentacles!

Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
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Red

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Red by Amy Crook

Red by Amy Crook

As promised, this is my other piece that’s simply called Red. Like last week’s piece, the reds are dark and intense, though this time they’re offset not by white paper but by the yellow ochre painted border. The different shades of red are also different textures, you can see some of the flash glare on the painting where the paint’s glossy, compared to the deep matte color of the bottom section.

This is actually quite a large painting, two feet by three feet, and although the edges are unfinished, I think it hangs just fine as is.

Red, 24″x36″ oil painting on canvas, $1299 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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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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Red Death

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Red Death by Amy Crook

Red Death by Amy Crook

This piece has a bit of a story to it. It’s a large monoprint, with a very small etching plate near the center of the paper. The two more random images were created by mixing up the blood-red ink and then smushing it between two plates, and then printing the result. I love the way the bottom image looks a bit like a heart (of the anatomical sort), while the left image seems to hold a whole world of secrets, a landscape of crimson mystery.

The etching plate is part of a series I started and never finished, depicting Neil Gaiman’s Endless from his Sandman comic series — but not the people, the ideas they represented. This plate was, I think, the most successful, the image for Death. I did print a single edition of the plates by themselves, and I’ll post those next month sometime (very Halloween appropriate).

Together the 3 images seem to tell a story, or to invite the viewer to tell their own story. I think every piece of art has something to say to the viewer, but not every person gets the same message. I’m always curious what a piece says to other people — what does this one say to you?

Red Death, 22.5″x16″ etching and monoprint on watercolor paper, $699 with free shipping.

Red Death, detail, by Amy Crook

Red Death, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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