Archive for the ‘Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things’ Category
Two for Joy
Friday, June 5th, 2015
Two for Joy by Amy Crook
If this painting feels familiar, that’s because it’s a relative of last month’s One for Sorrow 2. The figure this time is more androgynous, and their clothing seems to be blowing against the prevailing winds that bend the trees to their will.
Just like its predecessor, this piece has a lot of soft, pale fog that gets lost when it’s reproduced, but adds a lot of rich texture to the original. You can see it in the trees in the detail photo, a delicate sweep of wind moving across the paper grain.
Two crows sit low on a branch in the lee of the wind, harbingers of some unnamed joy. Whose joy and about what is left up to the imagination of the viewer, or perhaps it belongs to the apparition staring blankly back out of the page.
Two for Joy, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Two for Joy, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the staticky figure staring back at you, his clothing seemingly blown by an opposing wind. Below, I’ve displayed the painting in a temporary frame, where it awaits its new home.
Two for Joy, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bloodstone, counting crows, crow, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
One for Sorrow 2
Friday, May 8th, 2015
One for Sorrow 2 by Amy Crook
I’m not entirely happy with the title One for Sorrow 2, but this painting definitely needed that name, prior use notwithstanding. The single baleful crow sits high in the branches of the windswept tree, its image smeared out into the fog like an apparition, as though the bird is more of a ghost than the figure below.
There is a lot of very pale detail in the trees and sky which is hard to photograph, but shows up beautifully in person and adds another layer to the sense of windswept, foggy unreality. The detail photo shows a little of the sky, but it’s hard to spot on the sun-drenched page.
The lovely, textured greys are also not entirely black, but have a mix of reddish brown bloodstone in them to give the whole piece a more organic, grounded atmosphere.
One for Sorrow 2, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
One for Sorrow 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can just barely see the texture in the fog, a hint of wind and motion and shapes looming large and distant. Below, you can see the piece in a temporary frame, just waiting to haunt your house.
One for Sorrow 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bloodstone, counting crows, crow, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
Boring Yorick
Wednesday, April 15th, 2015
Boring Yorick, a Sherlock sketch by Amy Crook
I doodled up this little Sherlock sketch last year to go in someone’s Christmas present (*waves*), and I thought perhaps today was a good day to share him with you.
Sadly, Yorick wasn’t even murdered, so Sherlock finds the whole thing deadly dull. As it were.
Boring Yorick, 5.5″x4.25″ pen & ink on parchment cardstock.
Categories: People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: nfs, pen and ink, shakespeare, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sketch, skull
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia
Thursday, June 26th, 2014
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia
pen and ink art by Amy Crook
It’s been a while since I drew one of my Series of Uncanny Fears, and clowns seemed like a natural choice to bring them back. This happy guy just wants to bring joy and laughter to the world. Joy, laughter, and murder.
Definitely murder.
If you’re not too scared, you’ll have a chance to take him home in July’s Floating Gallery, which opens next Tuesday!
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia, 5″x7″ pen & ink on paper.
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of his cheerful face with its lopsided, toothy grin and big, happy red nose. I’m sure he’s not thinking about eating you, honest. Below, you can see him safely tucked away in a frame, just waiting to come sit quietly in a corner of your home.
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: a series of uncanny fears, clowns, crosshatching, edward gorey, for sale, gorey, pen and ink, uncanny fears
Murder Plaid
Tuesday, June 24th, 2014
Murder Plaid, abstract art by Amy Crook
Even though Hannibal and I are on a break that will, I suspect, last beyond the actual hiatus of the show, I couldn’t resist making a reference in the title of this painting. There’s layers of semi-opaque Japanese watercolor in four shades of red, mixing and blurring until you get a very creepy not-quite-face staring out at you from something resembling a murder scene. The broken gold lines run through the whole thing like gold thread through one of Dr. Lecter’s murder ties, not to mention the understated plaids that make up most of his wardrobe.
Murder Plaid, 5″x7″ Japanese and metallic watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Murder Plaid, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the textured pinks and reds and oranges layered together, with light glinting off the ‘threads’ of gold. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, staring at you, daring you to take it home.
Murder Plaid, framed art by Amy Crook
It really is that creepy in person. Also, now in a drawer.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: black paper, for sale, gold, hannibal, japanese watercolor, meta, watercolor
Frost Ghosts
Thursday, June 5th, 2014
Frost Ghosts, watercolor by Amy Crook
This painting, too, is hard to convey online. There’s no shiny paint or other special effects, but the way the paint seems to have depth is somewhat lost, and the subtle shadings and chilly colors get warmed and muddied.
I let the paint on this one mostly do its own thing with only a little direction from me to tease out the handprints on the right and the strange, creepy face in the upper left. The frostlike bloom of lighter paint happens when the dark purple and pale, opaque periwinkle interact in a pool of color, and are allowed to dry as they will.
The ghosts put their mark on this painting just for you.
Frost Ghosts, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Frost Ghosts, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see one of the handprints that bloomed above the surface of the dark paper and darker paint like frost traced on a window at night by a ghostly hand. Below, the painting sits in a frame in the incongruous sunshine, showing off more of its depths.
Frost Ghosts, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: black paper, for sale, japanese watercolor, periwinkle, spooky
Nine Crows
Saturday, May 3rd, 2014
Nine Crows by Amy Crook
Nine tiny crows fly in from afar, black against a stark white page. The widescreen expanse of paper adds to the feeling of distance.
Nine Crows, 8″x4″ pen & ink on Fluid watercolor paper.
Nine Crows, detail, by Amy Crook
As above, so below.
Nine Crows, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: black and white, crow, for sale, pen and ink
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
