Archive for the ‘Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things’ Category
Fetch the Cultist
Thursday, April 24th, 2014
Fetch the Cultist,
Lovecraft parody art by Amy Crook
The Hound of Tindalos is one of the most evil, annoying monsters to draw while playing Arkham Horror, and so of course I wanted to draw one being adorable. He’s playing fetch the cultist with Cthulhu! I’m sure the one he’s brought is only slightly chewed.
There’s not actually any real description of the hound in the books, it’s only called that because once it gets a time traveler’s scent, it will follow him through space and time like a hunting hound.
My idea is cuter.
Fetch the Cultist, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper. You can get him in black & white in my Cthulhu Holiday Fun Book, or pick up the original during May’s Floating Gallery.
Fetch the Cultist, framed art by Amy Crook
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Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: copic marker, cthulhu, cultist, hound of tindalos, lovecraft, pen and ink
M is for Molly
Thursday, April 17th, 2014
M is for Molly by Amy Crook
And here we have the 8th piece in my Baker Street Tinies series of parody pastiches. Molly Hooper gets to die next, and she doesn’t look happy about it.
Her method of demise is shared by “F is for Fanny,” in the original Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey. Rather than give her a peaceful beach scene, our favorite hapless coroner has been transported to a more Victoran morgue for her doom.
H is for (Mrs.) Hudson, 8.5″x5.5″ pen & ink on paper.
The original was a commission (I’m trading with a knitty friend for the best shawl ever), but she’s kindly allowed me to sell them as greeting cards in my Etsy shop.
Molly & Mrs Hudson Baker Street Tinies cards on Etsy by Amy Crook
Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: baker street tinies, crosshatching, edward gorey, molly hooper, nfs, pastiche, pen and ink, sherlock, sold
H is for (Mrs) Hudson
Wednesday, April 16th, 2014
H is for (Mrs.) Hudson by Amy Crook
Now that the dreaded season of taxes is past, let’s get back to a more cheerful subject — death! I’ve finally completed the next pair of characters in my Baker Street Tinies series of parody pastiches. First up is poor Mrs. Hudson, who should know better than to open Sherlock’s packages.
Her pose and predicament is from “T is for Titus,” in the original Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey, but the wallpaper is from the show (the weird lamp is all me). There was something strangely satisfying about drawing all those birds and branches for the express purpose of implying they’d be demolished shortly.
H is for (Mrs.) Hudson, 8.5″x5.5″ pen & ink on paper.
The original was a commission (I’m trading with a knitty friend for the best shawl ever), but she’s kindly allowed me to sell them as greeting cards in my Etsy shop.
Molly & Mrs Hudson Baker Street Tinies cards on Etsy by Amy Crook
Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: baker street tinies, crosshatching, edward gorey, mrs hudson, nfs, pastiche, pen and ink, sherlock, sold
Lurker in the Depths
Sunday, April 6th, 2014
Lurker in the Depths by Amy Crook
Most of this seahorse is pale, like a creature evolved in a place where there’s little to no light, but his fin is decorated with a rather morbid splash of red. His eye swirls with yellow and white, making him look blind. He lurks in the swirling waters next to a barnacle-bedecked skull.
Despite all these rather ghoulish details, there’s an adorable sort of whimsy to him. Go figure.
Lurker in the Depths, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Lurker in the Depths, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the subtle detail in the seahorse, his creepy yellow-tinged eye and the blue shadows on his pale body. Below, you can see him in a frame, hanging out with a squid.
Lurker in the Depths, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: copic marker, for sale, pen and ink, seahorses, skull
Red Wedding Decoration
Thursday, March 6th, 2014
Red Wedding Decoration by Amy Crook
Some of the time when I’m working on abstract art, I’m just thinking about the visuals. Sometimes, like with this piece, I tell myself a little story while I’m working, so there’s this weird little mental narrative behind the art.
In this case, despite having never seen or read Game of Thrones, I’ve been made aware of the whole Red Wedding thing. When the garnet paint (made with real garnets!) looked so much like blood dripped onto the paper, it made me think of that show, which in turn gave me this idea of some poor scribe, tasked with turning the ruined parchment into a decoration. And he had better do a good job, since he obviously knows what happened to the last people that crossed Lord Frey.
Red Wedding Decoration, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Red Wedding Decoration, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the painstakingly detailed filigree pattern radiating out from each splatter of paint. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with the white circle emphasized by the way it intersects with the edge.
Red Wedding Decoration, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: filigree, for sale, game of thrones, red, spirals, watercolor
Backbone
Wednesday, February 5th, 2014
Backbone, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Back in November, the same painting session that gave me the beginnings of both Exit Strategy and The Colour Out of Space produced the background for this. I did some more with the background before letting it sit for two months, and finally a few weeks ago I figured out what I wanted to do with it.
I actually used thinned-out titanium white paint in a fountain pen to draw these little shapes rather than painting them, a technique I practiced first on a couple of this month’s bookmarks.
The sinuous lines of vertebrae don’t quite follow the soft shapes they wind through, but they are informed by them. It’s hard to tell if this is one very long creature or several; if they’re suspended in water or mist or even fossilized; if they’re from something natural, unnatural, or even supernatural.
Backbone, 6″x4″ watercolor and Japanese watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Backbone, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see an extremely close look at a dozen of the many vertebrae twining through the painting. Below, the painting is tucked in a frame, its mysteries safely contained.
Backbone, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bones, for sale, japanese watercolor, pen and paint, skeleton, watercolor
Box of Hearts
Sunday, January 12th, 2014
Box of Hearts, a Cthulhu Valentine by Amy Crook
When Cthulhu gives you a big box of hearts, he really gives you… hearts. Ew. They may be small and squishy, but he finally found a way to show his love!
The card delightfully frames the image with the words:
“Cthulhu wanted to give you his* hearts
*not all hearts dedicated to Cthulhu before acquisition”
You can give your love a Valentine this year from my Etsy Shop. Assuming they’re the sort to be wooed by, well, this.
Box of Hearts, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Cthulhu Valentine by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Card Design, Floating Gallery, Tentacles, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: anatomical heart, copic marker, cthluhu, etsy, for sale, heart, pen & ink, valentine
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