Archive for the ‘Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things’ Category
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors
Thursday, June 20th, 2013
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, by Amy Crook
I’ve had a note to start this series on my whiteboard for ages, but I finally sat down and worked on this first installment. A Series of Uncanny Fears will visually explore those things that we, as adults, know we shouldn’t be afraid of. It’s an echo of being a kid, feeling a shiver despite our grown-up logic.
Mirrors have been thoroughly demystified by science and yet hold a certain creepy fascination, especially in the dark. Fiction explores mirror worlds, mirror traps, things lurking behind mirrors or traveling through them, impressions left on them or even messages written.
In my bathroom I have a blue canary in the outlet by the light switch to watch over me (no, really!), but I still sometimes turn the lights on properly at 3am when it’s dark and creepy, because of reasons. Mirror reasons.
How about you, what’s your uncanny fear?
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, 5″x7″ pen & ink on paper.
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see that I did go out of my way to make the mirror extra creepy with a skull motif as well as the built-in candleholders. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with my quill pen and ink bottle for ambiance.
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: a series of uncanny fears, crosshatching, edward gorey, gorey, nfs, pen and ink, sold, uncanny fears
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Crowned Skull
Monday, June 10th, 2013
Crowned Skull by Amy Crook
After drawing yesterday’s bookmark, I decided to draw a big version of the same image. I actually have a Halloween model skull on my bookshelf, wearing the paper crown out of a Christmas cracker, so he’s been the inspiration and model. His name is Sherrinford, because of reasons.
Personally, I think he would appeal to fans of Game of Thrones, given how everyone dies while George RR Martin drinks your tears.
Crowned Skull, 5″x7″ pencil, pen & ink and water brush on paper.
Crowned Skull, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the black ink separates into greys, blues and browns when I use the water brush to create shading. Below, you can see him in a frame, looking regal and tragic with my iPhone for moral support. Well, and size reference.
Crowned Skull, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, pencil, skull, water brush
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Skull Bookmark 3
Sunday, June 9th, 2013
Skull Bookmark 3
by Amy Crook
There was originally a skull bookmark in this set, and it wasn’t this one! That one got claimed by someone on my list, and someone else asked me to try to recreate it, so I did two more and she picked her favorite. So here is number three, pen and ink and water brush scribbled and smeared on comic backing board. I ended up also doing a full-sized crowned skull as a result of all this thinking about it, which you’ll get to see this coming week.
Skull Bookmark 3, 2″x6.5″ pen & ink and water brush on paper.
Skull Bookmark 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the skull itself up close. This ink tends to bleed out just a bit of blue and brown when it’s wet, so there’s a subtle undertone of color to the pieces that I really enjoy. Below, it’s sitting with my trusty book, and you can see it’s one of the largest of this set.
Skull Bookmark 3, with book, by Amy Crook
(book not included, book never included in anything)
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bookmark, buy a bookmark, for sale, pen and ink, skull
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Harvest Bookmark
Saturday, June 8th, 2013
Harvest Bookmark by Amy Crook
Today’s bookmark started life as a color study for last Friday’s art, Harvest, which in the long run I decided not to color at all. I finished this off with a bit of extra inking anyway, and added it to the pile of bookmarks. I like the warm glow of the big moon and the subtle browns on the figure and background, especially with the bit of added texture on the ground.
Harvest Bookmark, 2″x3″ pen & ink and watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Harvest Bookmark, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the texture in the paper, and the crosshatching on the burlap hood. One of the reasons I decided not to color the original piece was to keep the ambiguity as to whether it was a scarecrow or a person being lit by the big harvest moon. Below, the squat little bookmark is resting on the book, looking small and mysterious.
Harvest Bookmark, with book, by Amy Crook
(book not included, do not harvest the book)
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bookmark, crosshatching, pen and ink, watercolor
1 Comment »
Brainton Soup
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Brainton Soup by Amy Crook
I have a friend who always says that wonton soup looks like little brains floating in broth, so, this is totally her fault. The tentacles are taking place of the bok choi, cabbage, spinach or whatever random greens your chosen Chinese place uses in their soup. Also, tentacles. I even gave the bowl a nice design of my very own madness-inducing fake Mythos alphabet. Because I could.
What’s sad is that I’ve now done enough paintings with that text in it that I could generate this one without looking up a reference. Either that, or it really is all messages from beyond the stars.
I’m thinking this would make a great t-shirt, so if there’s interest it might go up on my meager little Redbubble account. What do you think?
Brainton Soup, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Brainton Soup, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of the brains and tentacles. I tried to color the brains somewhere between the warm yellow of wonton wrappers and the unhealthy pink of a real brain, and I think the result is pleasantly disturbing. Below, you can see the brains in a frame, with Cthulhu there to keep the tentacles in line.
Brainton Soup, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: brains, copic marker, for sale, pen and ink, tentacles
Skull Paper
Thursday, March 28th, 2013
Skull Paper by Amy Crook
Another foray into Victorian-style wallpapers with a limited palette, this piece combines loose brushwork with muted, complementary colors. The top copper shade is slightly iridescent, which adds a certain decaying glory to the erratic pattern. It makes me think of a design mouldering away in some abandoned Gothic manor house, the grinning skulls only adding to the haunted gloom of the place.
Skull Paper, 4″x6″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Skull Paper, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the light reflecting off some of the warm copper paint, which is at its darkest and most iridescent in the halos around each skull. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, hanging out on my desk with some other examples of scribbly, imperfect wallpaper.
Skull Paper, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: copper, for sale, iridescent, skull, turquoise, victorian wallpaper, watercolor
Fish Skeleton
Tuesday, March 19th, 2013
Fish Skeleton watercolor by Amy Crook
This is another of those pieces that started with an experiment with water and paint, and the result made me think of a stream in a rainstorm with drops hitting the surface and a soft play of light down in the water below. I wanted to do something more interesting that just a random fish, though, so of course I went for a fish skeleton. I took a few liberties with fish anatomy, so this isn’t really a specific fish so much as the Death of Fish, as it were.
It’s a definite contrast to the whimsy of my previous Fish Skellington, swimming along all silent and deadly, or at least dead.
Fish Skeleton, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper, $199 with free shipping.
Fish Skeleton, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the fine details of rib and fin and skull wending their way through the random-seeming raindrops. Below, the skeleton has swum into a frame so you can enjoy the wee size of it, perfect for a desk at work or an unused bit of wall at home.
Fish Skeleton, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: blue, for sale, skeleton, watercolor
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