Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category

Tentacle Deeps 10

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 10 watercolor by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 10 by Amy Crook

Tuesday is a great day for tentacles, don’t you think?

The rich, bloody red of this paint seemed to cry out for dark, velvety tentacles, so I did just two layers and then snuck in something new, a background effect with salt and an opaque yellow paint that created red salt crystals where it overlapped the background, and subtle white ones on the edges of a few of the tentacles. The extra detail seems to increase the feeling of eldritch horror, as though madness lies just around the corner if one could comprehend the meaning behind it all.

Tentacle Deeps 10, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt.

I’ve also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of this one, as well, enjoy!

Tentacle Deeps 10, framed art by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 10, framed, by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
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Sherlock & John

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Sherlock and John cartoon by Amy Crook

Sherlock & John by Amy Crook

Just a cheery little cartoon for your Monday – John with his tea and Sherlock in his thinking pose, the two of them content with their lot. I’m thinking of doing a b&w version of this one on a little Moleskine, but for now, you can enjoy an iPhone wallpaper of them, if you like. I am!

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Sherlock – Oh!

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

Sherlock Oh! sketch by Amy Crook

Sherlock Oh! by Amy Crook

I offered sketches to people the other day on my Twitter, and one of my friends asked for something with the dear Mr. Holmes from BBC’s Sherlock series. I decided to draw him having one of his epiphanies, mainly because I find drawing his coat to be great fun. He’s not quite as attenuated as he is in other cartoons I’ve done of him, which is probably for the better — he’s only six feet tall, after all, not exactly Jack Skellington, despite the occasional resemblance.

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Weeble Wednesday: Mycroft Holmes & DI Lestrade

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Mycroft Holmes and DI Lestrade cartoons by Amy Crook

Mycroft Holmes and DI Lestrade by Amy Crook

I’ve been trying to give my weebles a little more life, so I took on the challenge of drawing Mycroft Holmes leaning smugly with his umbrella, and the put-upon Detective Inspector Lestrade, both from the 2009 BBC Sherlock.

I also made judicious use of photographic references, which I think really captures the features of these actors – it’s excellent practice for making clients into cartoons and vice versa. A year of working to put other people’s faces into cartoon form has really improved my grasp on what features add the most character.

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Tentacle Deeps 9

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 9 watercolor by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 9 by Amy Crook

Once again, I bring you tentacles for Tuesday!

This watercolor piece uses double the salt for its effects. First I added rich texture and some orangey-gold color to the background with the large, coarse salt crystals. Later I used smaller Kosher salt on the tentacles themselves, putting the salt on after painting each one to get the maximum effect.

Something about this background made me want paler tentacles, so there’s less layers as a result. The salt texture is more dramatically visible, making the tentacles look as though they’ve got barnacles attached from years under the deep oceans.

Tentacle Deeps 9, 4″x6″ watercolor and salt.

I’ve also made an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper out of this one, as well, enjoy!

Tentacle Deeps 9, framed art by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 9, framed, by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
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Cthulhu Moleskine Volant

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Cthulhu Moleskine Volant customized by Amy Crook

Cthulhu Moleskine Volant customized by Amy Crook

The green of this Moleskine’s original cover just reminded me of the tentacles of an Elder God for some reason. Here he’s shown rising up over a field of silvery stars, or perhaps he’s slumbering with a blanket of the vast sky to keep him warm in the depths of R’lyeh.

Cthulhu, Moleskine Volant customized with oil paint Sharpie markers, nfs (sold).

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
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Weeble Wednesday: Sculpey Cthulhu

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

Weeble Cthulhu, Cultists, and Extra Tentacles, sculptures by Amy Crook

Weeble Cthulhu, Cultists, and Extra Tentacles, sculptures by Amy Crook

Cthulhu has been summoned into this dimension! You can see that his otherwordly color confuses my digital camera into giving it white highlights, though in reality he’s quite matte in appearance. The cultists who summoned him seem to have gotten a bit more than they bargained for, as one’s in his grip and another got scooped up by his tentacled friends.

A friend of my commissioned Cthulhu for his girlfriend’s birthday, originally intending it as a cake topper. Unfortunately he turned out too heavy for the cake, but I’m told he’ll end up in a place of honor with his cultists and tentacles. Making something that big with Sculpey was a real challenge, and I ended up making a core of aluminum foil over which the sculpey was laid, since they recommend you not try to make or bake anything out of it that’s more than 1/2″ thick. Given that he’s about 5″ overall, that wouldn’t have worked out too well!

Sculpey Cthulhu by Amy Crook

Sculpey Cthulhu by Amy Crook

As you can see, his color seems to baffle the camera even in the shade, the vibrant green-screen green just a little too much for its pixely heart.

Sculpey Cultists by Amy Crook

Sculpey Cultists by Amy Crook

Each of the cultists was done with a different skin and hair color, and they’re about an inch tall, though I made sure to vary the height as well. Cthulhu is a multicultural destroyer of souls!

Sculpey Tentacles by Amy Crook

Sculpey Tentacles by Amy Crook

The tentacles started out rather flat, and then I figured out ways to drape and pose them during baking so they could have some extra dimension when they were emerging from the depths of R’lyeh, or the cake. Whichever.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
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