Posts Tagged ‘black paper’

2021 48-hour Sketch Card Weekend

Thursday, February 24th, 2022

48 hours, 24 sketch cards

It’s all Danielle Corsetto’s fault.

The bright young perky things of comics do an annual 24hr comic, but Danielle is also moving into the Old and Tired phase of life and wanted a little more space, and also to expand the challenge to non-comics people. So, her version was to take the weekend, 48 hours, and do 24 of something — I chose sketch cards! And I actually did it, which was pretty awesome.

A lot of these are catch-up for the previous months on Patreon, from which I owed oh so many cards, but also just doing some for the heck of it.

You can see all the original posts here on Patreon, they’re public and have tired commentary to go with them: https://www.patreon.com/amysnotdeadyet/posts?filters%5Btag%5D=48hcw

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

First batch, all marker all the time. From top left:

  • Corinne wanted a tiktok memed into Stuckony, lol
  • Amber asked for “backyard kiddie pool” and oops got a kitty pool
  • Rey asked for “Science Says Chill” and got his fancy word art
  • And some lineless, sketchless halloween candy for feeding my own heart!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Second batch, playing with Copic markers and ink on Yupo substrate. From the top left:

  • abstract play with liquid ink directly onto paper, no pen required
  • spooky ghost
  • skull with a crown
  • goldfishy!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Markers, pencils, and your artist getting tired. From top left:

  • Amy B asked for “summer witch vibes” and got this homage to Goths in Hot Weather (sold)
  • Jeff asked for Print Nightmare, which is apparently a real Windows exploit, because of course it is (sold)
  • Jeff ALSO asked for Roy Kent, which was honestly a fucking delight (sold)
  • Deandra asked for something from To Hive & To Hold, and I did a scribbly pencil sketch of Meadowsweet snoozing on Arthur

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Day 2, switching media. Watercolor! From the top left:

  • Bucky with tats, gift art for a Halloween thing (which is why this post is locked)
  • a mixed media abstract that i started yesterday and finished today
  • magic wands for Eric (sold)
  • fishy!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

A trio of trees and a very special birb against the moon. Who’s that Pokémon?

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

Last ones! From the top left:

  • blobcat for the end, because two others are drying overnight for finishing later
  • purple abstract, because I can
  • Eric asked for “salt” and got this almost-dry abstract in his favorite blue & gold
  • Fairytale Sky! Remember that series? Have another.

I took pics when I started each say… as you can see watercolor day is a lot more involved.

Batching them in fours and taking a lot of breaks really helped, and man could I tell I’d been doing my physical therapy. My neck was almost not mad about it at the end, and is basically healed other than the ongoing problems from my terrible art gremlin posture. I have managed to somehow loosen my right shoulder in its socket, however, so I’m back in PT starting this week. Yay? I also took a bunch of breaks on watercolor day to help Dan dye his hair blue, and we ran out of gloves so I had one very blue hand by the end, haha.

Thanks for coming along on the journey belatedly with me!

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Summer 2021 Patreon Sketches

Monday, February 21st, 2022

Sketch cards galore! I have so many that I haven’t posted here, sorry. Last year was full of overwhelm and catch-up and madness, and I’m finally starting to organize things back into a system I can function with.

These little baseball-card-sized sketches are called ACEO (artist card edition only) or sometimes ATC (artist trading card) if being traded around. I standardized all my sketches for Patreon supporters to this size, and it’s made life much easier for me in terms of starting friction. I have all the stuff to start sketching in one little pouch!

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

From the top left:

  • Kim wanted to say no to summer, so she gets images of winter, instead!
  • the abstract dreams of a dying Medusa is for nobody in particular
  • Rebecca S wanted something for Pride, and gets this rainbow of DiversiTea
  • Eric wanted some beetroot and got some fun watercolor on Yupo substrate

ACEO sketch cards by Amy Crook

From top down:

  • Amber asked for Time Flies
  • Jeff asked for “i can’t even right now”
  • Eric asked for the One Ring

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of
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May 2021 Patreon Sketch Cards

Wednesday, July 28th, 2021

Another day, another bunch of Patreon sketch cards! I got some nifty black mixed media ones in, and tried that out with my shiny paints for the cocktails on the bottom left. I try to have fun with my sketches whenever I can, y’know?

7 small sketch cards by Amy Crook

From the top left:

  • Amber’s April showers/May flowers
  • a summer bat for The Other Amy
  • Nott the Brave for Eric
  • Wally the Nonbinary Welsh Walrus for Booskerdu
  • Cocktails for Jefferson
  • Kim’s new job ft. books
  • and 40s music for Roxanne B, with my personal favorite song from the era, “Swingin’ on a Star.”

Carry some moonbeams off in a jar, darlings!

Categories: Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Concentric 9

Monday, July 12th, 2021

an abstract watercolor painting of a series of concentric circles of dots on a green background

Concentric 9, 5″x5″ watercolor on paper

A fitting start for a gallery full of abstract artwork and reclaimed images, here’s an old painting that gained a lot more cowbell.

This mostly-green painting had some sneaky color-changing shine to it already, so I doubled down on that palette and brought in some blue to go with the gold, green, and surprising pops of red. There’s just one big set of Concentric bursts that fade through the palette, and finally trail off and fade out into nothingness.

This is a painting I wish I could show you in person, since it looks different from every angle and has a lot more to offer than I can capture in photos. A very familiar complaint, sadly!

Concentric 9, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the sunlight reflecting off the green-gold and green-red paints, turning everything into new colors and showing off hidden details. Below, the painting is in a frame, ready to bring a bit of peace and beauty into your life.

Concentric 9, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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GPS

Thursday, September 3rd, 2020

GPS, 6″x4″ watercolor on black paper

If you’re not looking for murder, perhaps some direction will do.

This is a GPS satellite, painted for a calendar cover to represent both technology and direction needed in 2021. The sunrise is just glinting over the curve of the earth in the background, a reminder that the sun continues to rise, and the atmosphere that we breathe is the thinnest of layers between us and the void.

It’s painted in metallic and opaque watercolors on black paper, so the sky is an even, velvety charcoal studded with distant stars.

GPS, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the gold of dawn just starting to glint over the Earth’s horizon. Below, the whole of space is laid out in a frame, just waiting to go to its forever home.

GPS, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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The Skies of Unknown Kadath

Thursday, March 5th, 2020

dreamy abstract art featuring clouds of iridescent color on black paper, by Amy Crook

The Skies of Unknown Kadath, 6″x8″ watercolor on black paper

In this month’s lone abstract painting, shiny paints layer over black paper to get this dreamlike effect.

“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath” is a novella by horror writer HP Lovecraft, best known for creating Cthulhu and also being hugely bigoted (even for 100 years ago). It’s a fascinating trip into dreams and obsession and madness, like so many of his works, and the painting’s title is a nod to the surreal descriptions that keep his work in our collective memory.

There’s a lot hiding in this painting, full of pigments that shine at different angles, in different colors, that peek through the less-glittery mineral paints and stand out against the black background.

The Skies of Unknown Kadath, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see some of the shining paints at a close up and oblique angle, the pigments catching sunlight and showing the layers of texture and detail. Below, it’s in a temporary frame, just waiting for the right dreamer.

The Skies of Unknown Kadath, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
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Night Snow

Saturday, November 2nd, 2019

abstract art of white ink on black paper depicting a flurry of fat snowflakes by Amy Crook

Night Snow, 6″x4″ ink on Arches cover black paper

The last time I saw snow was a freak storm when I was visiting family last year, but the flakes were just like this, fat and fluffy and white against the darkening sky. There’s a very specific kind of snow that looks this way when it’s falling, and is perfect for snowball fights, snowmen, and going inside afterward to drink cocoa.

The white here is ink rather than paint, and its random-seeming spatter has just enough of a direction to it that you can imagine the wind softly blowing the flakes off their course.

Perfect for a winter soul all year round, or as an elegant decoration that’s more seasonal than holiday-related.

Night Snow, detail, by Amy Crook

Night Snow, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the soft-edged layers of snowflakes, a few so close and big you could almost catch them on a mitten. Below, I’ve trapped this moment in a frame, just waiting to bring a bit of winter wonderland to you!

Night Snow, framed art by Amy Crook

Night Snow, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
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