Archive for the ‘Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths’ Category
Tentacle Deeps 40
Tuesday, July 31st, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 40 by Amy Crook
These oil paint tentacles were dry brushed onto their canvas so they’d look smokey and insubstantial, the curls deliberately imitating smoke near the tips as they fade into nothingness. The one on the right that’s all curled around makes me think of smoke rings!
Tentacle Deeps 40, 12″x12″ oil paint on gallery-wrapped canvas.
Tentacle Deeps 40, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the tentacles at a different angle, catching more of the clear blue afternoon sunlight. I don’t have a framed shot because this piece is finished on the edges and ready to hang without one, and it’s not dry enough yet to set up with my iPhone.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: blue, canvas, for sale, oil paint, purple, tentacle deeps, tentacles
The Stars Are Right 2
Monday, July 30th, 2012
The Stars Are Right 2 by Amy Crook
I went to a whole bunch of galleries a while ago, and one of them had these great pieces in them that looked like decaying pages of ancient texts, written in incomprehensible languages. My brain, of course, immediately went to the Cthulhu Mythos, and I thought how cool would it be to put the strange text in the stars instead. I put lines around my salt constellation to show how right the stars have become, and wended the alien language through and around both the planet and constellation. I think perhaps this is how the world would look if Cthulhu did rise above the waves, a single mass of green-slimed water dotted with the cities of the dead.
The Stars Are Right 2, 7″x5″ salt, Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
The Stars Are Right 2, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can see a close-up of the salt crystals on the planet, their quieter glimmer outshone by the silver glitter of the strange ancient language. Below, the fateful constellation nestles among the incomprehensible words, spelling out doom for those who know how to read the stars.
The Stars Are Right 2, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally you can see the piece in its frame. Although it’s very different than the original The Stars Are Right from last year, I felt like the name was just too obvious to ignore.
The Stars Are Right 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: black paper, cthulhu, for sale, glitter gel pen, japanese watercolor, planet, salt, stars, stars are right
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Tentacle Deeps 39
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 39 by Amy Crook
Golden sunlight filters into the murky deeps, while iridescent, ghostly green tentacles slither upward, reaching for the surface. The tentacles nearly vanish from some angles, but they’re bright as gilt when they catch the light, in a cool, shining green.
Tentacle Deeps 39, 6″x6″ Japanese watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper with pen & ink signature.
Tentacle Deeps 39, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the light shining off the tentacles against the velvety green-black of the background. Below, you can see it temporarily tucked into an 8″x10″ frame, waiting its final destination.
Tentacle Deeps 39, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, green, iridescent, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Lone Tentacle
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
Lone Tentacle by Amy Crook
This dark, intense bluish-violet wash was just asking for tentacles, but after I’d scribbled in the first one it seemed like that was really enough. I just really like something about the way the single, lone tentacle reaches upward toward the light, silhouetted against the violet depths.
Lone Tentacle, 6″x6″ pen & ink and Japanese watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Lone Tentacle, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shading detail on the tentacle, the textures of paper and paint that give the piece a murky, atmospheric feel. I liked this shot so much, I’m using it as a wallpaper, in fact. Below, you can see it temporarily tucked into a 8″x10″ frame, hanging out with my iPhone for scale.
Lone Tentacle, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, tentacles, violet, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 38
Tuesday, July 10th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 38 by Amy Crook
This is another of those paintings that started as an idle wash with my water brush and grew tentacles. I’m so in love with those, though I haven’t given up the normal brushes entirely. Like any new technique, I’ll use it a while and then go back to using a wider variety of stuff — or go on to the next shiny new thing.
This painting has a graceful hand of tentacles, five long tendrils like the fingers of some under-bed monster reaching up to get you tonight.
Sleep well.
Tentacle Deeps 38, 5″x7″ Japanese watercolor on Strathmore paper.
Tentacle Deeps 38, detail, by Amy Crook
There’s a certain range of blue-green colors that give my monitor a hissyfit trying to reproduce, and this painting is right in the middle of it. The scan is probably the most color accurate, though I enjoy the blue cast the tentacles get in the above detail photo. Below you can see it framed and ready to find its way into your house. Though possibly not the bedroom, just to be safe.
Tentacle Deeps 38, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: aqua, for sale, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
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Tentacle Spiral 3
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012
Tentacle Spiral 3, original art by Amy Crook
I used red-brown at one corner and yellow ochre at the other to make an earthy, warm wash, and then it sat around for a while while I wasn’t sure what to do with it. But when in doubt, I always turn to tentacles, and so I’ve added a third painting to the series. I rather like the effect of the lunar black tentacles on the powdery-matte Japanese watercolor background, with the warm glow coming through them.
Tentacle Spiral 3, watercolor on paper.
Tentacle Spiral 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see a close-up of the tentacles, and the textures of paper and paint together. I’ve made the detail photo into a computer wallpaper, this one’s less widescreen than yesterday’s for those of you with more square monitors. Below, I’ve put the painting in a frame so you can see how it might look, tucked in a frame on a shelf or perhaps a little piece of wall somewhere, adding tentacles to your home or office.
Tentacle Spiral 3, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books
Tags: brown, for sale, spirals, tentacle spiral, tentacles, watercolor, yellow
Fairy Godmother Cartoon
Saturday, June 30th, 2012
Fairy Godmother commission by Amy Crook
I’ve been working with Jo Van Every to create some illustrations she can use in her lectures and with her clients, and this generous lady is one of them. She wanted a fairy godmother to help people doing grant proposals and other academic career thinking to really sit down and wish for whatever they could possibly want, to help un-limit their thinking. We made sure the bag was separate so she can use it for exercises by itself, too, and she’s even got a version that’s just black and white for people to use as a coloring book page.
Cool, huh?
This is what Jo had to say about her illustration:
“I help social science and humanities academics with grant proposals, individually and in workshops. Unlike scientists, humanities profs often have difficulty figuring out what they need the money for. Their frugality muscles are pretty well developed and they sometimes get stuck in a loop where they can’t imagine even asking for more money because they aren’t sure they can justify that. For a recent workshop I asked Amy if she could do a Fairy Godmother that I could use in an exercise to get them thinking about money. Fairy Godmothers don’t ask you to write proposals and justify your budget. They just grant you money, though sometimes they have rules about using it by midnight or whatever. I put different sums of money on cards in a bag and got each small group to pick a number out of the bag and then brainstorm all the research they could do if the Fairy Godmother granted them that amount. Now I use it with individual clients, too. I encourage them to try different numbers on that loot bag and dream.
“The magic thing about a Fairy Godmother is that once you’ve played with just being granted this amount of money, it’s easier to work on the piece where you make a case for how important this work is and justify spending that much money.”
If you’d like something nifty of your own, consider my Be a Cartoon service. As you can see, you don’t even have to use it to become a cartoon yourself if you don’t want to!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, commission, copic marker, fairy, jo vanevery, nfs, pen and ink
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