Archive for the ‘Sea Creatures and Other Animals’ Category

Morning After

Monday, May 6th, 2019

Morning After by Amy Crook, a watercolor pastel sunrise against a panoramic foreground of smoking ruins

Morning After, 8″x4″ watercolor on paper

The sky holds the softness of spring, the delicacy of an Easter egg, the gentlest of sunrises. In front of these lovely colors, there are smoking ruins, the aftermath of some mystery calamity. Carrion birds wheel and turn on the thermals, looking for a choice meal among the destruction. The pall of smoke hanging over the burnt-out husks is no deterrent to the scavengers.

There’s a curious juxtaposition with the grey-green ruins backed by the seashell pink, baby-chick yellow, and robin’s egg blue of the sky.

Morning After, detail, by Amy Crook

Morning After, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the delicate, tiny brushstrokes that make up each hollow, destroyed building. Below, the carrion birds circle and swoop inside their temporary frame.

Morning After, framed art by Amy Crook

Morning After, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Bees 5

Friday, May 3rd, 2019

Bees 5 by Amy Crook, acrylic ink painting of busy bees on a semi-abstract honeycomb pattern

Bees 5, 7″x5″ acrylic ink on paper

Experimental bees! Acrylic ink is lightfast and dries waterproof, and these bees were the perfect test subject for a new medium.

The loose honeycomb make a gorgeous background for the painterly scribble of a busy hive of bees. They’re mostly concentrated in the corner where all the honey is, with the rest of the comb slowly floating off and away into the aether, adding a surrealist quality to the piece.

Bees 5, detail, by Amy Crook

Bees 5, detail, by Amy Crook

Above you can see these cheerful little bees against the soft cream paper and golden hexes. Below, these fellows are buzzing around in their own frame, just like in a proper hive.

Bees 5, framed art by Amy Crook

Bees 5, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
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Moon Landing

Thursday, May 2nd, 2019

Moon Landing by Amy Crook, watercolor painting of a crow landing on a bare branch under a daylight moon

Moon Landing, 9″x12″ Primatek watercolor on paper

This started with a palette and a sky, and the tree grew in complexity and reached out just asking for a bird to alight on its outstretched branch. There’s a dim daytime moon just barely visible in the upper left corner, inspiring the punny name.

This painting has a really delightful, eerie quality with its soft sky and stark tree. The black bird has a beautiful organic quality to the motion of its feathers, and the reach of its feet. It looks like the branch is beckoning it in for a landing, for good or ill.

Moon Landing, Detail, by Amy Crook

Moon Landing, Detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the crow up close in all its gloomy glory. Below, this painting is in a frame, showing off its size by being almost as tall as the writing desk’s cubbies.

Moon Landing, framed art by Amy Crook

Moon Landing, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Shiny Magikarp

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

a golden shiny magikarp leaping upward above a tiny pond far below, by Amy Crook

Shiny Magikarp, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

Magikarp Jump is the most ridiculous game ever, and of course I had to celebrate the warm golden shiny with another commission from my Pokemon patron. This guy has a great height up above his tiny pond, so let’s hope he gets the best leap and doesn’t end up in a sad little pit.

Categories: Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Swablus

Tuesday, March 26th, 2019

blue and gold Swablus cuddling on a branch, by Amy Crook

Swablus, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

My Pokemon commission patron has refreshed his list with a new batch of shiny goodness, and we’re starting with this adorable pair of Swablu, They look nice together in the non-shiny blue and shiny gold, hanging out and snuggling up in the chill spring night.

These two will make an adorable Valentine when the time comes, don’t you think?

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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You Are Enough

Tuesday, March 19th, 2019

soft goat farmer Bucky knows you are enough just as you are

You Are Enough, 8″x10″ ink on paper

Another day, another finished commission! Roxanne asked me for an affirmation, along with a chibi, on a larger page than my usual. Since I knew she likes the Winter Soldier, I drew soft goat farmer Bucky from end of Black Panther, though I gave him a gold wrap instead of the red one to go with his blue shawl.

The goats are both from goat memes, and they just really wanted to come along for the ride.

All of them agree on one thing, though: You are enough just as you are.

Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Hillside

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Hillside by Amy Crook, a mist-shrouded tree against a glowing sky with a stooping bird of prey overhead

Hillside, 4″x6″ Primatek watercolor on paper

A bird of prey stoops above, but our mere human eyes can’t see what it’s diving for down in the scrub grass clinging to the hillside despite the season. The tree is stripped of its foliage, half vanishing against the twilight, everything softened by mist and distance.

The limited palette blends beautifully, mineral paints that cling together on the soft paper. The sunshine is rust, the sky turquoise and amethyst and barely-there vivianite, creating a glow against which the bloodstone paint seems almost transcendent.

There’s a missing corner on the lower right, but as you can see in the photo, a frame will easily hide the slight imperfection so only you and your artist will know it’s there.

Hillside, detail, by Amy Crook

Hillside, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the twining branches of the tree vanishing into the mists. Below, this small painting rests in its frame, the perfect size to tuck a bit of mystery into your life.

Hillside, framed art by Amy Crook

Hillside, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Whimsical and Strange
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