Archive for the ‘Sea Creatures and Other Animals’ Category
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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Goldfish
Tuesday, May 28th, 2013
Goldfish, watercolor by Amy Crook
Last Thursday I finally got around to tearing some big sheets of paper I had into smaller, more Amy-sized sheets. Then I just had to play with the results, so I asked a friend to pick a color, and she said gold.
After a bit of playing and a bit of waiting, I ended up with this very bright red-orange-yellow background. Then I flipped it over, and found a fish in the shapes. I used a dark red and my lovely duochrome orange-gold paint to bring out the shape of this little guy, just a few strokes of paint to make a fishy.
Goldfish, 10″x8″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Goldfish, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shine of the paint I used to put some of the gold in the goldfish. Below, the piece is sitting in a frame, and you can see how vibrant the colors really are.
Goldfish, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: duochrome, fish, for sale, orange, portfolio, watercolor
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One for Sorrow
Monday, May 27th, 2013
One for Sorrow by Amy Crook
I hope you’re enjoying your Memorial Day weekend! This little crow is painted with ink and watercolor on some soft Japanese “sketch” paper which warps the moment I look at it damply. It’s soft and nicely textured, but won’t stay flat to save my life. I like the crow, though, and the bits of rainbow oil-slick color in his feathers. The wrinkles in the paper form a sort of halo around him, little harbinger of sorrow that he is.
One for Sorrow, 10″x8″ Japanese watercolor and sumi-e ink on Japanese paper.
One for Sorrow, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the texture in the paper and the wibbly wobbly warping from the ink wash. I discounted his price a bit to account for the strange paper, and you can see below how it fits fine into a frame but still refuses to flatten out.
One for Sorrow, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, for sale, japanese watercolor, sumi-e ink
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Angler Fish 1
Friday, May 24th, 2013
Angler Fish 1 by Amy Crook, $250
After I painted this bloody red background, deliberately deep and dark, I thought that a glowing blue Angler fish would be the perfect thing to go on top of it. I love the contrast between the abstract, color-field-like painting in the background, all matte and dark Japanese watercolors that sank into the textured black paper, and the drawing-like simplicity of the fish on top. She’s got deceptive amounts of detail, from the subtle shading on her creepy blank eye to the deliberate comic “shine” marks around her phosphorescent lure. The paint itself is a little bit shiny, with some duochrome Aquamarine mixed in with the white and turquoise to create a shiny paint that sits on top of the background rather than blending in.
Also, she’s magnificently creepy. Win!
Angler Fish 1, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper, $250 with free shipping.
Angler Fish 1, work in progress, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the murky background painting along with the little pre-sketch I did to fix the design in my head. I didn’t want to pencil directly onto the paint, so I just doodled it on a bit of scratch paper instead. Below, you can see a close-up of the angler’s lure and her shiny paint looking very bright against the matte depths behind her.
Angler Fish 1, detail, by Amy Crook
And finally, you can see the fish in her frame! I keep saying her because, of course, male angler fish are wee, pathetic little things doomed to die in the service of their species. I feel comfortable putting these links off my site here, because none of you ever read this far down, anyway.
Angler Fish 1, framed art by Amy Crook
- Title: Angler Fish 1
- 7 in. x 5 in. watercolor, Japanese watercolor, and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper
- $250 for the original (tax will be added if you live in CA)
- Frame is not included, but can be added for $50 (shipping included)
- Shipping is free anywhere in the world
- Payment plans are available, just email me
- The button below will take you to Paypal – if you’d like to pay another way, just let me know and we’ll work it out
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: angler fish, black paper, fish, for sale, iridescent, japanese watercolor, watercolor
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Another Man’s Octopus
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
Another Man’s Octopus, a Sherlock Holmes comic by Amy Crook
When I was contemplating ideas for today’s Tentacle Tuesday, this idea came to me (undoubtedly influenced by the steampunk novel I’m reading) to draw the original Holmes and Watson. I borrowed the fashions from one of the old Paget illustrations, so blame him for Holmes’ weird little jabot, and then added in our random steampunky science nerd and of course Biffy, the friendly octopus. He just really likes Watson’s moustache, I feel. It’s quite dashing.
I decided to shade it all in warm greys to give it the feel of an old Victorian daguerreotype or something, which always runs into the question of whether I should color the skin of the people or leave them white as the paper. I compromised by making Holmes very pale indeed, and giving Watson and the scientist a bit more robust warmth. This kind of coloring takes a bit less time than proper color, as the limited palette simplifies things.
Another Man’s Octopus, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Another Man’s Octopus, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the line that made me decide I absolutely had to draw the comic, along with an unimpressed Holmes uttering it. Below, they’ve made it into a frame with my bored 5-armed plushie and one of the original books.
Another Man’s Octopus, framed comic by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: ACD holmes, comic, copic marker, for sale, grey, john watson, octopus, pen and ink, sherlock holmes
Tentacle Deeps 48
Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
Tentacle Deeps 48 by Amy Crook
It’s Tentacle Tuesday and this one’s an octopus! Appropriate for 48, I suppose, that I’d break the “odd numbers look better” rule and go for 8 sucker-laden arms waving in the murky water. The background is an odd duochrome paint that goes from rusty orange to a very bright green, the tentacles are a translucent dark purple, and the suckers are a gunmetal silver color called “iridescent moonstone.”
Tentacle Deeps 48, 4″x6″ duochrome, iridescent and normal watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Tentacle Deeps 48, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the green shining up through the purple where it catches the light. Below, I’ve tucked it into a frame and let it hang out with my rather bored plushie — I think the orange one’s just jealous because it only has 5 arms.
Tentacle Deeps 48, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, iridescent, octopus, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Curious Otter
Friday, April 26th, 2013
Curious Otter, 7″x7″ watercolor and pen & ink on Arches cover white paper
This curious little otter is peering at you through a sunlit window into his little pool. He’s done with a limited palette of watercolors and a little bit of water-blurred pen & ink to add that feeling of a reinforced window. He’s a bit of an odd size, but mounting him on a piece of mat board lets you appreciate the hand-torn irregularity of the paper’s edges. The soft paper lends some really nice texture to the loose, expressionist brush strokes.
Curious Otter, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the otter up close, peering at you with his sharp black eyes while the rest of him grows ever fainter in the water’s slightly murky depths. Below, you can see him in a temporary frame, displayed in all his nosy glory with his little hedgehog buddy.
Curious Otter, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: expressionism, nfs, otter, pen and ink, sold, watercolor, who knew
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