Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category
Knitty Monster
Sunday, July 1st, 2012
Knitty Monster sketch by Amy Crook
Most of the time when I sell a Coloring Book I just have to guess what the recipient might like, but this time I knew it was going to be a birthday gift for a friend. So, I drew her a cheerful sort of monster, happily knitting from its own shaggy coat.
May you spend your Sunday doing whatever makes you happiest!
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: coloring book, doodle, nfs, pen and ink, sketch
Fairy Godmother Cartoon
Saturday, June 30th, 2012
Fairy Godmother commission by Amy Crook
I’ve been working with Jo Van Every to create some illustrations she can use in her lectures and with her clients, and this generous lady is one of them. She wanted a fairy godmother to help people doing grant proposals and other academic career thinking to really sit down and wish for whatever they could possibly want, to help un-limit their thinking. We made sure the bag was separate so she can use it for exercises by itself, too, and she’s even got a version that’s just black and white for people to use as a coloring book page.
Cool, huh?
This is what Jo had to say about her illustration:
“I help social science and humanities academics with grant proposals, individually and in workshops. Unlike scientists, humanities profs often have difficulty figuring out what they need the money for. Their frugality muscles are pretty well developed and they sometimes get stuck in a loop where they can’t imagine even asking for more money because they aren’t sure they can justify that. For a recent workshop I asked Amy if she could do a Fairy Godmother that I could use in an exercise to get them thinking about money. Fairy Godmothers don’t ask you to write proposals and justify your budget. They just grant you money, though sometimes they have rules about using it by midnight or whatever. I put different sums of money on cards in a bag and got each small group to pick a number out of the bag and then brainstorm all the research they could do if the Fairy Godmother granted them that amount. Now I use it with individual clients, too. I encourage them to try different numbers on that loot bag and dream.
“The magic thing about a Fairy Godmother is that once you’ve played with just being granted this amount of money, it’s easier to work on the piece where you make a case for how important this work is and justify spending that much money.”
If you’d like something nifty of your own, consider my Be a Cartoon service. As you can see, you don’t even have to use it to become a cartoon yourself if you don’t want to!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, commission, copic marker, fairy, jo vanevery, nfs, pen and ink
Filigree Planet
Friday, June 29th, 2012
Filigree Planet by Amy Crook
And here we have the final piece with the spirals of doom. I was really in love with the planet itself before I got out the pens, and then I was so delighted by the filigree look on Monday’s piece that I decided all the space around this one needed it. It’s slightly less masochistic than the piece I’m still working on with the black pen-and-ink spiral texture, which means it actually got done whereas that one’s back on hold until my wrist forgives me in a few more days.
The warm, bright purple of the glitter stands out much more clearly on the black paper, in the way of these things, framing this richly textured planet with whimsical spirals. There’s a very subtle bit sheen to the dark salt crystals that formed as the piece dried, but it’s very subdued compared to the bright glittery “stars” surrounding the planet.
I first painted the actual periwinkle wash, then I took a darker, warmer violet and dripped it wetly onto the still-damp wash. Finally, I added a few drips of salt water to the mix and, after a bit more interference, let the whole thing dry. The spirals came last, and in stages over the course of a couple of days.
Filigree Planet, 5″x5.25″ Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Filigree Planet, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the sun lighting up the glittery spirals and just glinting off the salt at the center of the piece. Below, I tilted the piece away from the light so you can see the difference in color. It’s interactive!
Filigree Planet, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Finally we have it loosely tucked into a 5″x5″ frame, though it doesn’t really fit as it’s just a wee bit too wide. It’ll need to be matted into a bigger frame for final display, which I can do for you if you like for an additional fee.
Filigree Planet, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, filigree, glitter gel pen, nfs, periwinkle, planet, purple, salt, sold, spirals, violet, watercolor
Pomegranate
Thursday, June 28th, 2012
Pomegranate watercolor by Amy Crook
This would be one of the pieces full of little tiny spirals (as were both this week’s prior art posts, really) that caused me to Instagram my poor ace-bandaged wrist instead of posting art on Saturday. Well, this combined with a work project that involved a lot of sustained precision trackpad work, anyway. Two things that really don’t go together, apparently!
Speaking of things that caused me trouble, it’s very hard to find a good quote about pomegranates not from the Bible. I was very pleased to finally find this quote from a translation of Homer, though I swear pomegranates figured in more stuff in English class.
I originally painted this as another mostly-circular wash, but when the shape and color started to become decidedly pomegranate-like, I embraced it. The spirals are like the seeds, to me, the mystery hiding inside the lovely fruit. The quote came last, and as you can see below, the word “glows” was done with two shades of red and a nice little smear to create a halo.
Pomegranate, 7″x5″ pen & ink and watercolor on paper.
Pomegranate, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above, the glow, both in the inner line work of a brighter red, and the soft pink smear around it created by running an eraser over the still-wet ink. Below, you can see a close-up of the spirals and the way the burgundy ink interacts with the various shades of watercolor beneath it.
Pomegranate, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally here what it looks like in a frame, just waiting to bring a bit of glowing mystery to your home, or the corner of your office. The frame isn’t included, but I’m happy to add it in for a small additional fee.
Pomegranate, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Whimsical and Strange, Words Words Words
Tags: calligraphy, for sale, pen and ink, pomegranate, spirals, watercolor
Tentacle Reach
Tuesday, June 26th, 2012
Tentacle Reach by Amy Crook
One of the colors I have in my flower-shaped Japanese watercolor palette is a vivid, almost fluorescent orange that makes a surprisingly subtle wash. I started doing another Tentacle Deeps with the red pen on the orange wash, but i liked the reaching-out gesture of the first crosshatched tentacle so much I decided to do something a little different.
I grabbed my Apricot fountain pen and brought another tentacle down from above, the two of them not quite touching as they try to cross the distance. The result echoes a lot of iconic images without actually copying any of them.
Also, there’s spirals.
Tentacle Reach, 7″x5″ pen & ink and watercolor on paper.
Tentacle Reach, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the crosshatched tentacles and the aching space between them. The red pen has a fatter nib, and its ink tended to bleed more where the paint wash was denser, which gives the orange tentacle a more ethereal feel by comparison. Below, you can see them tucked in a frame, hanging out with my jellyfish phone for scale.
Tentacle Reach, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Tentacles
Tags: crosshatching, for sale, orange, pen and ink, tentacles, watercolor
Filigree Moon
Monday, June 25th, 2012
Filigree Moon by Amy Crook
I’m utterly delighted by this piece, from the salt pools with their soft, chalky centers to the fine filigree of glittering spirals over the subtly colored moon. I almost didn’t put a price on it at all, and I’ll definitely find a spot for it among my shelves where it can bring me delight for as long as it lives here.
The glitter gel pen has no actual pigment in it, and the glitter in it is remarkably large, so that you get an effect of translucency that reminds me of glitter nail polish. From some angles the filigree is bright and obvious, but from others, like the one in the scanner, it’s barely there at all. The tiny salt-pool stars add their own bit of sparkle to the piece, and the velvety black paper makes the perfect space backdrop.
Filigree Moon, 7″x5″ salt, Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Filigree Moon, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the filigree lit up by the sunlight, spirals and curlicues that shimmer and vanish when you turn the painting away from the sun. Below, you can see that I’ve finally had the brilliant idea to photograph the black paper pieces without the glass in the frame, and magically there’s no glare. Fancy that.
Filigree Moon, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, filigree, for sale, glitter gel pen, moon, periwinkle, salt, spirals, watercolor
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Blue Flower sketch
Sunday, June 24th, 2012
Blue Flower watercolor sketch by Amy Crook
Just a little sketch I did with my water brush in my little notebook to cheer up your weekend. It’s not really meant to be any specific flower, just a pretty one.
Happy Sunday!
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: nfs, sketch, watercolor
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