Archive for the ‘Whimsical and Strange’ Category
Squid a la Gorey
Thursday, April 14th, 2011
Squid a la Gorey by Amy Crook
The watery environs of this squid were directly inspired by the cover of The Raging Tide: Or, the Black Doll’s Imbroglio by Edward Gorey. I didn’t even realize it was out of print until just now, though, oops.
I’ve been wanting to move away from doing just Sherlock cartoons in this style, and so I went to one of my other dorky fannish loves, cephalopods. This little squid looks like something unfortunate is about to befall him, which seems appropriate for something done in Edward Gorey’s style. Perhaps the black doll will come falling through the water, or maybe the squid will be called upon to help fill out another set of childhood obituaries. “G is for Gretchen, pulled down by a squid,” perhaps?
Squid a la Gorey, 7″x5″ pen and ink on 8.5″x5.5″ drawing paper.
You can also get this piece printed on a handmade card on Etsy.
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: edward gorey, for sale, pen and ink, squid, studio gallery
Weeble Wednesday: Bride of the Mummy
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Bride of the Mummy by Amy Crook
This poor lady was stuck as inks for many weeks, waiting for me to get a refill on my colorless blender so I could properly fade the wear and tear on her bandages. I had fun making her as a counterpart to the Mummy, especially since I gave them opposite eyes freed of bandages.
She’s one of the bonus brides from my Monster Heart Coloring Book, of course, and I have just one illustration left to color before those are all done.
Bride of the Mummy, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on watercolor paper. $89 with free shipping.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bride, coloring book, copic marker, for sale, monster, pen and ink, weeble
Dance of the Octopi
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Dance of the Octopi by Amy Crook
I can almost imagine sleeping in a room with one wall papered with dancing octopi, squid and jellyfish, all swimming in their Victorian frame of swaying seaweed. Though, actually, once I get the colors adjusted to my satisfaction, I may upload the design to Spoonflower and see about making some pyjama pants out of it, so I can sleep cool in my underwater dreams.
I drew the individual pieces up with pen and ink, and then scanned them in simple black, adding color as I worked with the design. There’s no original per se for this one, just a bunch of sketches in a couple of sketchbooks. At some point I’ll need to crop just one panel out for repeating properly, but I want to adjust the blue background and purple squid first.
Now you can better imagine the Octopi as wallpaper/curtains: Click here!
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: fish, jellyfish, octopus, pen and ink, photoshop, squid, wallpaper
3 Comments »
Weeble Wednesday: Brides of Dracula
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Brides of Dracula by Amy Crook
Now that I’ve got my super-pale-skin marker refilled, I’ve finally started coloring the bonus brides from my Monster Heart Coloring Book. These toothy gals are inspired by the many movie depictions of the three brides that I’ve seen, and some judicious image googling to figure out what styles would have been appropriate for the era, for 50 or 100 years before. I liked the idea that they might still dress in the fashion of their own times, and that each one had been born in a different era.
Brides of Dracula, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic markers on watercolor paper. $89, with free shipping.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: cartoon, coloring book, copic marker, Dracula, for sale, monster, pen and ink, vampire, weeble
Weeble Wednesday: Michael Beckwith
Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
Michael Beckwith cartoon by Amy Crook
I’m back to cartooning! I’ve finally gotten the marker refills I was waiting on, and so the first of the new weebles is my code monkey. Michael Beckwith does a lot of the programming for my client sites (and this one, too!), learning all the ins and outs of WordPress development so I don’t have to.
When he asked to be a cartoon, I couldn’t resist adding a few extras — he wanted the piratical wooden leg and crutch for his props, so I also gave him the little pirate hat, and added the monkey on his t-shirt. He doesn’t actually have a wooden leg that I know of, but he’s definitely on the Pirate side of the war against the Ninjas, so that’s good enough for me.
Click here to find out how you can be a cartoon, too.
“Becoming a cartoon was surprisingly painless. A few questions, a picture,
and some patience, and soon enough I was a whole new man. Or, well, cartoon.”
-Michael Beckwith
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: cartoon, code monkey, copic marker, pen and ink, weeble
2 Comments »
Weeble Wednesday: Bat!
Saturday, March 5th, 2011
Weeble Bat by Amy Crook
When I asked my friends what other cards I should do for Halloween, they were unanimous in requesting a bat, so here he is! I elected to save myself some future carpal tunnel and colored the background with Photoshop, but the rest of it’s done by hand with my trusty Copic markers.
I love the patterns bats make when they fly, so different from birds somehow, so I drew in a few of his friends who are flying off into the sunset without him. Don’t worry, though, he’ll catch up, he was just mugging for the “photo.”
Weeble Bat, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic marker on watercolor paper.
Categories: Daily Art, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bat, copic marker, halloween, pen and ink, photoshop, weeble
Weeble Wednesday: Dancing Skeleton
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
Dancing Skeleton by Amy Crook
This little guy is a sketch I did during a slow moment when I was having a “Meet the Artist” day last month. My window at the Book Shop is down now, but this funky little guy lives on.
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: nfs, pen and ink, weeble
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