Archive for the ‘People, Figures and Faces’ Category
The Beating of Mighty Wings
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
From the Darkness, I Hear the Beating of Mighty Wings, lithograph by Amy Crook
This piece was a two-part stone lithograph drawn by hand on two stones, which is a really interesting and odd process that I only got a chance to try out twice during the short time I had access to the materials.
The image on the left contains a quote from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series about his character of Death, and that’s the quote which I used to title the whole piece. On the right, we have a quote from the Joy Division song “In a Lonely Place,” which was quoted in the original comics for The Crow — the second comic series I ever collected (the first was Bill Sienkiewicz’s Stray Toasters). The image, of course, is of the main character from the comic and later movie, and has a pattern of wings overlaying the shadows, a match to the outspread wing in the first panel.
There are a lot of hidden things here about death and myth and meaning, but also about art and inspiration, and the process that artists of all sorts go through, amalgamating all the art they consume, the culture around them and the facts and trivia they learn, and putting it through the mill of their own experience. The Crow is littered with quotes from songs, The Sandman is rife with literary, historical and mythical references, and between them there is a small but coherent thread of death and flight and black wings that carry the soul away, that I’ve chosen to weave into this artwork.
From the Darkness, I Hear the Beating of Mighty Wings, edition, 22″x15″ stone lithograph on watercolor paper.
The print above on the buff paper was done in an edition of 26, of which I still have 6 (with some variation between prints owing to the process). I also have a single print on heavy natural-deckle handmade watercolor paper that’s one of a kind. No more of these can ever be made — the stones were long sanded down smooth and used for other artworks.
From the Darkness, I Hear the Beating of Mighty Wings, AP by Amy Crook
From the Darkness, I Hear the Beating of Mighty Wings, A/P, 22″x17″ stone lithograph on handmade watercolor paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, People, Figures and Faces, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: crow, edition, for sale, lithograph, print series
Urgent Grounding
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
Urgent Grounding by Amy Crook
One of the hardest things about art is knowing when a piece is done.
This painting started out as a quick sketch that I filled in with some messy linework in a rich forest green. I started working in the background of rich orangey gold, and then at one point I stepped back and said, you know, I think I like it just as it is. I’ve had it hanging in my living room for a while now, and I haven’t ever wanted to go back and mess with it.
Urgent Grounding, 30″x24″ oil on canvas, $899 with free shipping.
Categories: Daily Art, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: for sale, oil painting
Weeble Wednesday: Rey Magdael
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Rey Magdael by Amy Crook
My good friend Rey & I shared a hotel room at a gaming con (not like that! sheesh), and as part of my half of the room expenses, he decided to be a cartoon. Art for hotel room, awesome! He was too lazy to tell me anything about what specifics he wanted, so I chose his props for him. Yes, this is one of the advantages of being someone I actually know in Real Life — surprise extras!
His iPhone is red because it’s got a skin on it — one he desperately needs for his coworkers, a reproduction of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters, and of course a Christmas present from me.
We had fun picking out the skin color for him, I made a bunch of lines on a little strip of paper and wrapped it around his arm. We were both amused that the Copic marker that matched best was called “Orientale.” It’s especially funny because their “Barely Beige” is distinctly pinker than “Baby Skin Pink,” so I rarely trust the names to be descriptive or useful. Score one for Japan, I guess!
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, copic marker, nfs, pen and ink, weeble
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Catty
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Catty by Amy Crook
This piece was once described as looking like she was wearing a black rubber catsuit, though as the bronze has aged the patina’s gotten some flecks of blue-green verdigris on it that adds an unusual texture. She’s another of my little bronze people series, so the figure is about the size of a child’s doll. I always liked the way the lines of her body combined the lush, heart-shaped derriere with long, slender limbs and a smooth, featureless face to be both sensual and faintly creepy.
The person who bought it was kind enough to send me a better photo than the ones I had, since I wanted to post the whole series and not just the ones I had left.
Catty, approx. 12″ long cast bronze, sold.
Categories: Daily Art, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
Tags: bronze, sex people, sold
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Holly Jackson & Cottage Copy
Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Holly Jackson by Amy Crook
Since it’s Sunday, I’ll repost another older cartoon that never made it up here on Antemortem — Holly Jackson and Sir Didymus of Cottage Copy! Holly wanted to show her mighty pen and scroll, and of course the Cottage Copy canine needed to put in his appearance.
He made a second appearance, along with another version of Holly, on the painting I did that eventually became the header for the Cottage Copy website:
Cottage Copy by Amy Crook
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, commission, copic marker, Cottage Copy, Didy, dog, Holly Jackson, pen and ink, watercolor
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