Archive for the ‘Whimsical and Strange’ Category
Mistletoe Experiment
Saturday, November 2nd, 2013
Mistletoe Experiment,
a parody Sherlock comic by Amy Crook
In some ways, this comic was really just an excuse to put John in yet another horrifying holiday sweater. Sherlock’s found some mistletoe to hang up for an experiment, but we’re not sure if he’s after smooches or poison dosages. Either way, John will be on the lookout.
This piece is in this month’s Floating Gallery, but was bought by a lovely patron so the original’s no longer available. But you can get it on a holiday card in my Etsy shop.
Mistletoe Experiment, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Mistletoe Experiment Sherlock holiday card by Amy Crook on Etsy
Categories: Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: christmas, copic marker, etsy, holiday, john watson, nfs, parody, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold, watson
Jo’s Magnificent Metaphorical Time Machine
Monday, October 28th, 2013
Jo’s Magnificent Metaphorical Time Machine, commissioned illustration by Amy Crook
It’s Monday, and I think we all wish we could hop in and go back to Friday to enjoy the weekend all over again. The delightful Jo Van Every has gotten another fun illustration, this time of the “time machine” she uses to help get clients to think ahead. She wanted something colorful and whimsical, so I went for a Seussian version of the HG Wells creation. I’m not sure what all those big funnel-shaped things do, but I’m certain it’s timey-wimey stuff.
Categories: Completed Commissions, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: commission, copic marker, jo vanevery, nfs, pen and ink
Deck the Smaug
Saturday, October 19th, 2013
Deck the Smaug, holiday fan art by Amy Crook
I’m pretty sure this is the silliest holiday card I’ve ever designed, but I’m such a fan of the silly Smaug/Bilbo art out there on the internet, I had to toss in one of my own. Bilbo raided Smaug’s hoard for bells and gold chains, but I have no idea where he got the giant ribbons or pine boughs for the rest of his cheerful holiday decorating.
At least Smaug will smell delicious while he’s eating you!
Deck the Smaug, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper. He is, of course, available as a card in my Etsy shop.
Deck the Smaug holiday card by Amy Crook at Etsy
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: bilbo baggins, copic marker, dragon, etsy, gold, hobbit, pen and ink, smaug
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey
Tuesday, October 8th, 2013
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey
Doctor Who art by Amy Crook
Everyone needs a tiny TARDIS in their lives, don’t they? This one is rocketing through the wibbly wobbly timey wimey spaces between possibilities. It looks pretty turbulent, with streaks of blue and green and strange stars of sparkling salt all around.
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, 4″x6″ pen & ink, salt and watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, detail, by Amy Crook
One problem with painting in gorgeous bright, clear blues is that they get a bit muddled by my scanner, but you can see the contrast in the piece much more clearly above. The TARDIS floats alongside sparkling salt and strange shapes, with the Doctor and perhaps even a Companion or two tucked safely inside.
Below, the painting hangs out in a frame, safe from the forces of time and space. For now.
Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: blue, doctor who, green, pen and ink, salt, tardis, watercolor
Spiral Dragon
Monday, October 7th, 2013
Spiral Dragon by Amy Crook
Red Sharpie scales cover the entire page, showing through and informing the shapes of everything above them.
Dragons are often identified by their colors. Red and blue make purple, make violet. This dragon has fire in his eyes and ice along his belly.
Is his breath hot or cold? Is that smoke or mist curling from his mouth? Do those spikes cauterize as they pierce, melt the strongest armor or chill it to shattering, or neither, merely sharp, merely tipped in shining red?
Seemingly endless spiral scales are there to protect him, but as Neil Gaiman says, “dragons have one soft spot, somewhere, always.”
Spiral Dragon, 8″x8″ Sharpie marker, watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Spiral Dragon, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sunlight reflecting off the iridescent sapphire of the dragon’s underbelly, and the way the red Sharpie spirals show through everything. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, just waiting for the perfect wall.
Spiral Dragon, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: blue, dragon, iridescent, nfs, purple, red, sharpie marker, sold, spiral, spirals, watercolor
Brass Gates to Midnight 2
Saturday, October 5th, 2013
Brass Gates to Midnight 2 by Amy Crook
Last year I painted Brass Gates to Midnight, and posted it to the blog even though it never quite felt finished to me. I decided to pull out the old piece and rework it. I spent several hours with my brown and gold paint adding depth and weight to the gates, turning the spirals from insubstantial mist to thick vines frozen in a riot of growth. I added a sheen of starlight on the dark trees, and even gave the tiny fairy tucked in the gates a bit more detail and color.
The inner spaces of the gate remain black, blocking our sight to the lands we can see through the gap and over the top. Are you tempted to push them fully open and wander into the starlit places beyond?
Brass Gates to Midnight 2, 5″x5″ Japanese and iridescent watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Brass Gates to Midnight 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the little brown-and-green fairy hiding in among the brass curls of the gate. Is he luring you in, or warning you away? Perhaps it’s a bit of both.
Below, you can see the piece in a frame, like a window onto another set of possibilities.
Brass Gates to Midnight 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, fairy, for sale, iridescent, japanese watercolor, metallic, more cowbell, spiral, spirals, stars, watercolor
Map to an Undiscovered Country
Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013
Map to an Undiscovered Country by Amy Crook
I’m going to post a bit more about some of the pieces in October’s Floating Gallery for the next couple of weeks, starting with this one! If there’s a piece you’re curious about, feel free to ask.
This painting was directly inspired by a patron’s reaction to one of last month’s pieces. You know who you are, and thank you! It’s been a month of being fascinated with maps, for me, so this was a good way to explore that.
There’s two kinds of pen and ink on here, my teeny tiny Micron pen outlining the fjords and inlets around this strange country, and the thicker Japanese Pilot fountain pens in deep green and dark brown forming the inner details.
The line across the middle feels like a river and lake to me, but what if it’s a border, a fault, a plateau or crater? I love the mystery created by the map, making you wonder if the yellow is beaches or deserts or something else. Are those deep green spaces forests or mountains? If the brown aren’t roads, what are they? Are there even people in this undiscovered land, or are you the first to gaze upon it?
Map to an Undiscovered Country, 5″x7″ pen & ink and watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Map to an Undiscovered Country, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the paper texture interacting with the media to create detail, the tiny hand-drawn borders making strange borders, the thicker lines intersecting and the edge of the shape in the center. Below, you can see it in the frame I got especially for this piece, though of course once it finds a new home I’ll be able to re-purpose this, should the frame not go with it.
Map to an Undiscovered Country, framed art by Amy Crook
I’ll end on a note about works in pen and ink. Most colored inks are made with dyes and are less lightfast than the pigments in paint. If you put your art somewhere that gets direct sunlight, it will fade like an old map despite the high quality art paper. So don’t do that.
Actually, don’t do that to any art, because even the most lightfast pigments degrade over time. Also, it’s just not nice.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, green, map, pen and ink, watercolor
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