Archive for the ‘Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things’ Category

Invisible Sun

Monday, August 6th, 2018

Invisible Sun by Amy Crook, a futuristic city skyline in ruins

Invisible Sun, 6″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

Through the haze of smoke and destruction, a sun faintly glows with the softest sheen of gold. Below, fantastic buildings are shattered, battered, burnt, and broken.

Another set of painted ruins joins the series of apocalyptic visions. This one is small, the size of a postcard. The sky is the color of sunset on a day full of pollution in the city, smog that dulls vision and steals the color and life from the landscape.

The title is, of course, from a song by The Police.

Invisible Sun, detail, by Amy Crook

Invisible Sun, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the smoking city up close, its futuristic shapes shattered and ruined. Below, the piece is in its frame, small in size but powerful in scope.

Invisible Sun, framed art by Amy Crook

Invisible Sun, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , , , ,


Every King That Died

Wednesday, July 25th, 2018

Every King That Died by Amy Crook, a pen and ink drawing of a skull in a paper crown with Bastille lyrics around it

Every King That Died by Amy Crook, 4.25″x5.5″ pen and ink on paper

Next week the Floating Gallery will be back! Until then, you have this to tide you over, a little sketchbook drawing that I thought would make a very cool tattoo. I’ve been earwormed by Bastille all month for some reason, because my brain thought it’d be a great time to get into a 4-year-old Britpop album, but what can you do?

Draw skulls in paper crowns, that’s what.

I was considering making a card or print of this, what do you think?

Categories: Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , , , ,


Old Blue Eyes

Monday, June 4th, 2018

Old Blue Eyes by Amy Crook, a painting of a whimsical-creepy skull with no jaw, a crown, and glowing blue eye sockets

Old Blue Eyes, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

The King is dead, long live the king! Old Blue Eyes here is ready to rule even in the tender grip of death — is he a lich or a ghost, or leader of the skeleton army?

Or perhaps he’s a she, a queen of the undead with her spirit shining out of her eye sockets with as much fierceness as ever.

What story would you give to this clever creature?

Old Blue Eyes, detail, by Amy Crook

Old Blue Eyes, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the shine of the crown and the subtler blue glow of the eyes on this strange skull. Below, the painting’s resting in a frame, just waiting on the next chapter of their story.

Old Blue Eyes, framed art by Amy Crook

Old Blue Eyes, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , , , , ,


The Skull Inside of Us

Friday, March 2nd, 2018

The Skull Inside of Us, original watercolor by Amy Crook

The Skull Inside of Us, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

There’s a skull inside all of us, waiting for its chance to get out. A skeleton of finger bones, ribs, kneecaps and vertebrae, tiny wrist bones and huge thigh bones hiding buried in the reality of us. We’re bound together by meat and nerves and souls, but underneath the surface, our skulls are always smiling.

This small painting packs a lot of punch with its iconic imagery and painterly execution. A wealth of color lives in the greys, purples and blues and golden browns mingling together to create eerie shadows.

The Skull Inside of Us, detail, by Amy Crook

The Skull Inside of Us, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the image dissolve into abstraction when it’s up close, colors separating and shapes blurring into spookiness. Below, the piece is in a black frame, making it feel more like a scrying-glass look at the future.

The Skull Inside of Us, framed art by Amy Crook

The Skull Inside of Us, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , ,


Seven for a Secret 2

Tuesday, February 6th, 2018

Seven for a Secret 2, spooky watercolor by Amy Crook

Seven for a Secret 2, 6″x6″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

This moody series of Counting Crows paintings has its seventh addition!

The tree here has clearly been through quite a bit of storm-tossing or other rough handling, with broken branches and even the top pointing jaggedly to the sky while it spreads itself as well as it can with what remains. A murder of crows alights, and a ghostly figure awaits in the fog.

Where would you show this seventh secret?

Seven for a Secret 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Seven for a Secret 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a couple of the crows, a fraction of the full murder. Below, they’re in a frame like looking through a window into another, spookier reality.

Seven for a Secret 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Seven for a Secret 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, 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: , , , , , , ,


Shining Apocalypse

Monday, February 5th, 2018

Shining Apocalypse, watercolor ruins by Amy Crook

Shining Apocalypse, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper

Mood: The end of the world, but sparkly.

This painting is full of warm colors and sparkling mineral paints, despite the ghostly city half-destroyed against a burning sky. Carrion birds dot the sky above, circling for their dinner. The buildings have a loose, alien quality to make you wonder just where this city was, and who once lived among its now-abandoned streets.

Shining Apocalypse, detail, by Amy Crook

Shining Apocalypse, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the secret sparkle hiding in the simple palette. Below, you can see the painting framed and ready to let your imagination roam the landscape.

Shining Apocalypse, framed art by Amy Crook

Shining Apocalypse, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , , , , ,


The Autumn of Ashes

Monday, November 6th, 2017

The Autumn of Ashes, ink art by Amy Crook

The Autumn of Ashes, 8″x4″ ink on Fluid watercolor paper

A ghostly apparition, white fog, and a leaf-crowned tree.

A bright pop of color slowly embraced by the fog, warm red-brown bark supporting the green and gold foliage of early fall. A cool grey figure that might be a spirit or might just be hidden by the mist.

What stories can you write for this image?

This is the perfect painting for someone with a head full of fairy tales who just needs a starting point to get their fingers moving.

The Autumn of Ashes, detail, by Amy Crook

The Autumn of Ashes, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the tree fades into the fog, and the tiny bit of mysterious shimmer hiding in the red-brown bark. Below, the piece floats in a frame, full of subtle detail the scanner can’t capture.

The Autumn of Ashes, framed art by Amy Crook

The Autumn of Ashes, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: , , , , , , ,


« Or Head Back That Way Drip divider More Art This Way »