Archive for the ‘Series and Books’ Category
Shut Up and Help for the Holidays
Saturday, November 10th, 2012
Shut Up and Help for the Holidays,
Sherlock BBC fan art by Amy Crook
I decided I wanted a second Sherlock holiday card this year, and I decided it had to have Sherlock being his usual annoying self. I spared John any truly awful Christmas sweaters, but made him carry all the boxes.
Shut Up and Help for the Holidays, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic markers on paper, nfs (sold).
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: christmas, copic marker, john watson, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold
O is for Origami
Thursday, November 8th, 2012
O is for Origami, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook
I believe this pattern is actually for an origami fried egg, when done with yellow paper and the colors reversed, but I wanted a big, bold shape for my O. The four corners created little points when folded back, so I actually drew the gold pattern on the entire 3″x3″ square background and then glued just the points on the back of the O down. The O floats above the background serenely, and it has to be framed with no glass in order to make room.
This was the first non-flat letter I made, though there’s a few more coming, including the ampersand (&). I’m nearly done with the series, half a dozen letters to go, so if you are curious about one we haven’t seen yet (perhaps for a holiday gift!), just drop me a line and I’ll give you a sneak preview.
O is for Origami, 5″x5″ Origami paper, watercolor and glitter gel pen on paper.
O is for Origami, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the origami floats on its background, letting the gold glow beneath it as it sits serenely above, the whole thing surrounded by a simple red border. Below, M is for Majuscule and Miniscule is hanging out with my O to make OM!
O is for Origami and M is for Majuscule & Miniscule, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Illuminated Alphabet, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: alphabet, calligraphy, for sale, glitter gel pen, gold, illumination, orange, origami, watercolor
What What What
Tuesday, November 6th, 2012
What What What, Doctor Who fan art by Amy Crook
After making the Eleventh Doctor’s holiday card art, I had to do something with Ten. The darling Tara Swiger suggested the idea for the text, “What? What? No! What?” on the outside of the card, and inside it says, “It’s Christmas already?”
I also decided to draw the other side of the TARDIS on this one, just for variety, but then there was a magical result — the two images together had two Doctors with one TARDIS between them!
What What What, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic markers on paper, nfs (sold).
Doctor Who cards by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, doctor who, nfs, pen and ink, sold, tardis
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Lost Arcadia
Monday, November 5th, 2012
Lost Arcadia, watercolor by Amy Crook
I’ve been reading a lot of HP Lovecraft lately, and aside from being occasionally stunned by the epic racism, I’ve noticed that a lot of his descriptions of paradise have a certain common form. There’s tall spires, glowing domes, beautiful temples and perfumed gardens awaiting the lucky person who can find the various lost cities. Of course, doom (or DOOM in the case of Sarnath) often comes to destroy those idyllic cities or sink them to the bottom of the ocean, but it wouldn’t be Lovecraft if it didn’t.
This is painted using three shades of near-black, the soft green, midnight blue and deep purple, and a tiny bit of actual black thinned out to almost nothing to give texture to the glowing moon, plus a wee bit of white for the few stars that peek out above the clouds. I like the loose way I can just paint with no sketch or reference using the blacks, getting a whole range of values that aren’t just plain grey due to the subtle tinting.
Lost Arcadia, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Lost Arcadia, detail 1, by Amy Crook
I have a hard time convincing Photoshop to clear away the blue tinge of sunlight from the image without over-saturating the subtle colors on the image, so I left the one above without much adjustment so you can see the detail on the buildings. Below, you can see the swirling blue-black clouds and violet-tinted night sky as it lightens up in the glow of the city below.
Lost Arcadia, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally I have it in a frame! My 8×8 frames don’t have stands, just wall hanging hardware, and my iPhone couldn’t jump that high, so I’m afraid you’ll have to imagine how they look together.
Lost Arcadia, 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: city, lovecraft, moon, nfs, sold, spirals, watercolor
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Thinking in Grey
Saturday, November 3rd, 2012
Thinking in Grey, Sherlock fan art by Amy Crook
Copic markers have four kinds of grey — warm, cool, neutral and toner. I used warm and cool greys to put in all shading here, giving the whole image a muted effect like an old photo. You might recognize the pose from last week’s bookmark, which was sort of practice for this bigger piece, though of course I widened the view quite a bit.
Thinking in Grey, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper, nfs (sold).
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold
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N is for Negative Space
Thursday, November 1st, 2012
N is for Negative Space, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook
The texture on this one is really subtle; with the red watercolor a very dense and intense tone, the red glitter gel pen nearly vanishes unless it’s at the right angle. I really enjoy the big red shark-fin shape at the bottom, and the deceptive simplicity of this particular letter. Perfect for a Nelson or Natalie or Norbert!
N is for Negative Space, 5″x5″ watercolor stick and glitter gel pen on paper.
N is for Negative Space, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shining glitter catching the sunlight, giving the whole image a bit of a bluish tint to it. Below, the N is hanging out with next week’s O to spell out every toddler’s favorite word – NO.
N is for Negative Space & O is for Origami, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Illuminated Alphabet, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: alphabet, calligraphy, for sale, glitter gel pen, illumination, pen and ink, red, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 43
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 43 by Amy Crook
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water(color)! I never quite know when I’m going to be done with this series, but apparently it’s not just yet. This is definitely another step in the girly direction for the tentacles, with shimmery purple, duochrome pink and green. Even the paper is a lovely soft green cardstock from Crane & Co.
The spirals in the background are very subtle, the green-gold hard to see except in the right light, but I like the way they float up off the page like bubbles.
Tentacle Deeps 43, 4″x6″ iridescent and duochorome watercolor on green Crane & Co. paper.
Tentacle Deeps 43, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the shimmer of purple in the pink, and gold in the green spirals, not to mention the sheen on the purple tentacles. Below, it’s in its frame, waiting to bring a strange beauty to someone’s life.
Tentacle Deeps 43, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: crane and co, duochrome, for sale, green, purple, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
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