Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category
Harry Potter Valentines
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Harry Potter Valentine cartoon by Amy Crook
I wanted to make a silly Harry Potter Valentine card this year for my friends who love these characters, since not all of my friends got all fannish about Sherlock the way I did. One of them suggested Snape teaching Harry to brew those candy message hearts, and after googling for some bad Latin, this is the card front.
Of course, I couldn’t stop there, we had to see the results!
Harry & Snape's Candy Hearts
As you can see, someone’s got a bit of a crush on his teacher, but Snape’s still in denial. I’m sure it’ll have a happy ending, though.
Apericordis, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic markers on paper. You can get your own copy of this silly little card here on Etsy.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, etsy, Harry Potter, pen and ink, snape, valentine
2 Comments »
Tentacle Deeps 24
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 24 by Amy Crook
It’s Tuesday the 24th, which is the perfect day for Tentacle Deeps 24, don’t you think? It’s a good thing I’ve got it all ready to go.
I have really been enjoying my block of 4″x8″ watercolor paper, especially for the tentacles, although it means I’ll need to figure out a framing and matting situation for them sooner or later. I like the sense of depth it gives them with the extra vertical space above, in this case where the yellows shine in and then filter down through the textured space into bluer greens at the bottom. The tentacles are scribbled in with fountain pen on the black and brush pen on the grey.
Tentacle Deeps 24, 4″x8″ pen and ink and watercolor on paper.
I have to admit, I think every single one of the Tentacle Deeps paintings looks cool photographed this way, so I will probably never stop adding in the gratuitous creepy detail shots.
Tentacle Deeps 24, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, green, pen and ink, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Moon Valley
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Moon Valley watercolor by Amy Crook
I’ve been working for many months now on the re-launch of Moon Valley Astrologer, and it’s finally up, huzzah!
I used watercolors to create both the Moon Valley header art and the background of stars, though as you can see there was some Photoshop tomfoolery on her final header to make the moon more like a proper orange harvest moon. Not to mention the cropping and text!
Moon Valley Astrologer header by Amy Crook
This site was a huge undertaking, but I’m really happy that it’s all come together in time, and I look forward to continuing to work with Celeste as the site continues to grow. And of course Michael, who does the heavy lifting of implementing my designs with best practices.
The painting itself went through several practice versions, including the very creepy-sky study Mountains of Madness. This final has a peaceful, luminous quality that I think really goes well with her site and personality. Although it’s not really a portrait of the actual Moon Valley where she lives, it conveys the feeling we were hoping for in subtle, inviting colors that we then echoed into the rest of the site.
Moon Valley, 14″x8.5″ watercolor on paper.
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: for sale, moon, moon valley astrologer, mountains, stars, watercolor
Tentacle Heart Cyclops
Saturday, January 21st, 2012
Coloring Book Doodle 48 - Tentacle Heart Cyclops
I scanned #49 today, too, and it’s hard to believe I’ve done that many of these doodles. I don’t always manage to draw in books (wholesale orders don’t get them, or last-minute-zomg ones), and sometimes I draw and forget to scan, but still. Nearly 50! That’s a lot of tentacles.
And yet, this guy is unimpressed. Isn’t that always the way?
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: coloring book, doodle, pen and ink, sketch
Ultramarine
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Ultramarine by Amy Crook, $299
I’ve been wanting something other than plain white for backgrounds on the salt pieces just for contrast, so this time I painted the paper with a very light yellow wash and added in some slightly darker spirals to the mix. This whole piece is really about spirals, from the little watercolor stick spirals that didn’t dissolve even a tiny bit into the salt, to the big ones around the pools. It gets its name from the shade of blue, of course, ultramarine both inside and outside the salt pools.
Ultramarine, 6″x6″ watercolor and salt on paper, $299 framed, with free shipping.
In the same way that my scanner likes to think white paper is really blue, my camera often splashes them with red, so I’d say the real color is somewhere in between the detail below and the scan above. Oh, technology.
Ultramarine, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
Dichrome
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Dichrome by Amy Crook
Despite the rather random way this image came about (and really, do my abstract pieces come about any other way?), I’m really in love with the stuttering flow of the paint and the subtle transition from warm orange to cool, soft blue. The salt pools came later, using a black ink that separates in water into brown and blue, which mixed beautifully with the pink Himalayan salt.
The swoop of paint reminds me of clouds at sunset, breaking up as they rise up into the sky, but then I’m not sure what the salt pools would become, though they were absolutely necessary for the visual balance of the piece.
Dichrome, 6″x6″ watercolor, ink and salt on paper, nfs (sold).
There’s a lot of variation in the salt pools this time around, and here you can really see the colors of them and how they echo the paint colors.
Dichrome, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And here’s another view of the same section that allows you to really appreciate the geometric crystals in the big pool, and the chunk of pink salt with its rough surfaces that’s nearby. I always find the close-up photos of the salt crystal formations fascinating.
Dichrome, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, nfs, orange, salt, sold, watercolor
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Like Sherlock Loves Crime Scenes
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012
Like Sherlock Loves Crime Scenes by Amy Crook
I couldn’t resist doing a Sherlock & John cartoon to match the Like Mycroft Loves His Umbrella art from November. Both of these guys are now available as Valentines in my Etsy shop, and I’ll be adding a series of prints soon as well. I have to admit, I really enjoyed wrapping these two up in crime scene tape, it just seemed a natural fit.
Like Sherlock Loves Crime Scenes, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on paper.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, pen and ink, sherlock, slash, watson
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