Archive for the ‘Things I’m a Fan Of’ Category
John Watson
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
John Watson by Amy Crook
During the opening of the first episode of the BBC’s new Sherlock, there’s a scene of John Watson sitting, back straight, staring blankly out into the darkness of the room. I wanted to try to capture that moment here, and so I found some screencaps and drew up this rather detailed sketch.
It’s funny how many little details it takes to make a person recognizable — after the first draft, I scanned the sketch and laid it over the original screencap in Photoshop and looked at all the little places that needed to change. The curve of the nose and chin, the angle of the lines of the forehead, the placement of this shadow and that highlight — nothing big, but once I went through and made the changes, the drawing coalesced from ‘a random guy staring off into space’ and into what, at least to me, is recognizably John (as played by Martin Freeman).
I admit I cheated a little when I scanned him in the second time and gave him a much bigger expanse of space to stare aimlessly off into than he has in my sketchbook (not to mention cleaning up all the finger-smudges in the white). I wanted to give a sense of how the image was in the show, which was incredibly well-shot with gorgeous composition and cinematography throughout.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: nfs, pencil, sherlock, watson
Weeble Wednesday: Cthulhu Hearts Tentacles
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
Cthulhu + Heart by Amy Crook
Cthulhu has brought you a bouquet of cultists! He just wants to be loved, see how he’s baring his heart for you?
This is another of the new illustrations for my Monster Heart Coloring Book. I couldn’t resist putting a Cthulhu in, and of course he’s also available as a Valentine.
Cthulhu 3 and Cthulhu’s Heart, both 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on watercolor paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: coloring book, copic marker, cthulhu, etsy, for sale, lovecraft, pen and ink, weeble
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Sherlock Sketch 3
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Sherlock sketch 3 by Amy Crook
This time I only allowed myself about 10 minutes to work on this sketch, so I spent a lot of it trying to bring out the unusual things about Sherlock aka Benedict Cumberbatch’s appearance. First, of curse I roughed in the basic shape, face and hair and that ridiculously long, well-postured neck of his, and then I concentrated on the unique shape of his mouth, the Cupid’s-bow upper lip and full, squarish lower lip. The eyes are his other most striking feature (well, after the cheekbones), and one of the hardest to capture. His nose got sort of roughed in and left there, I’m afraid, but it does all right.
I think the drawing would benefit from another five minutes, but the point of the exercise was to get something recognizable as the actor in a short amount of time, and I like to think I’ve succeeded.
Sherlock sketch 3, 2.67″x4″ pencil on notebook paper, nfs.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: nfs, pencil, sherlock
Bonus Weeble: Sherlock & John
Friday, January 14th, 2011
Weeble John and Sherlock by Amy Crook
Since I’ve been drawing Sherlock, I figured it was high time I also gave John a go, not to mention time to Weeble-ify the pair of them. These guys were complicated! That textured wooly weave on Sherlock’s coat took forever, and I spent a long time watching episode 2 trying to get a good look on the exact arrangement of pockets and patches on John’s jacket. Such torment, I know.
It being cartoons, I exaggerated the height difference (5.5″ in real life), and gave weeble Sherlock a thinner build than my usual weebles while drawing John Watson as dead average. It amused me to find out when I looked it up that the actor’s actually an inch shorter than me! John’s sweater was the perfect thing to use my “warm grey” markers on, where Sherlock’s done all in cool greys. Sherlock’s skin is the palest of the skin tones I have, where John got a much warmer, pinker hue, to reflect his home-from-Afghanistan tan.
Ironically, I think this is the most recognizably Sherlock of the 3 drawings I’ve done of him. Cartoons are always easier. (And you know, if you’d like to Be a Cartoon, they’re still available!)
Weeble John and Sherlock, 7.5″x6.5″ pen and ink and Copic markers on sketchbook paper, not for sale.
Categories: People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, watson, weeble
Sherlock sketch 2
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Sherlock sketch 2 by Amy Crook
After my first sketch of Sherlock from his new BBC Series, I decided to challenge myself to get the face right (or at least more right, heh) and do a potrait. I can still see that there’s something slightly off here even after erasing every single facial feature at least twice and redrawing it, but after 3 sessions of work on it I’m actually pretty happy with the result. It’s recognizably him, there’s just a few details that aren’t quite perfect.
I’ve been thinking that I need to spend time learning how to draw character faces with different expressions, not just the expressions but the faces themselves, as a lot of cartoon-style art involves drawing the same person over and over and making them look consistent, so expect to see more Sherlock and probably his incarnation of Dr John Watson as well.
And yes, I’m already working on the weebles. What, like you’re surprised?
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: fan art, nfs, pencil, sherlock
Monster Heart Coloring Book
Thursday, January 6th, 2011
Monster Heart Coloring Book, front + inside, by Amy Crook
The perfect gift for the horror-loving Valentine in your life — a Monster Heart Coloring Book. Each monster is presented with his heart on the opposite page, from Frankenstein’s Monster’s stitched-together heart to the Mummy’s bandage-wrapped one. And as a bonus, a few of the monsters have brides! Dracula, modeled after the very classic performance by Bela Lugosi, even has a trio of his brides.
My Cthulhu Coloring Books got great reviews last year, so I decided to put out something special for Valentine’s day. This one’s a little longer, with 4 extra illustrations, and there’s all-new art including a Zombie and a brand-new Cthulhu.
Check out the Monster Heart Coloring Book at my Etsy shop – it’s sure to make you smile.
Monster Heart Coloring Book, back + inside, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: coloring book, etsy, weeble
Sherlock BBC Sketch
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Sherlock BBC, sketch 1, by Amy Crook
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I took most of last week off here, just posting Frankenstein’s Monster on Weeble Wednesday, and otherwise relaxing and taking care of end-of-year things.
One of the things I did was watch one of my Christmas presents over and over, that being the new BBC series Sherlock. I really love the dialogue, and all the little references to the original Holmes, and the wonderful rapport between the two main actors. Also, I have a desperate, hopeless lust for the coat Sherlock wears — it’s everything I’ve longed for in a coat, except that it’s wool, so I couldn’t wear it even if I could afford one (it’s a very pricey designer brand from Britain, and last year’s line on top of that).
In honour of my newest fangirlish obsession, my first post of the new year is Sherlock Holmes, as re-imagined by the BBC in modern times. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start — I’m sure I’ll do at least one or two more, and a couple of Dr. Watson as well. I have some Moleskines lying around that could be easily Holmes-ified.
Also coming up for the new year is another coloring book (with all-new art that’s very nearly done), weeble monster Valentines, the opportunity to be a Zombie, and a window full of art up in a local book shop for the month of February.
Happy New Year! What are you all up to for 2011?
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: fan art, nfs, pencil, sherlock
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