Posts Tagged ‘for sale’
Z is for Zoomorphic
Thursday, February 21st, 2013
Z is for Zoomorphic, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook
It was surprisingly easy to find a theme for my Z, and then once I’d decided on a zoomorphic letter, cats was the second most obvious choice (after zebras). Even the border fits the theme, with little abstract silver and gold mouse kissing all around these sleeping cats. Their poses are inspired by my own fickle felines, but I chose to go with different markings, a nice grey top kitty with a slumbering tabby for the base.
This is the end of my Alphabet! It’s almost sad that it’s over, except that I have at least two more letters to do, and I might go back and “fill in” the sold pieces with variants so I can display the whole set somewhere. I’m happy to take commissions on any letters someone wants in a different style, or that’s already sold (I’m already doing a second J!), and you can click here for the details.
Z is for Zoomorphic, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor, pen & ink and glitter gel pen on paper.
Z is for Zoomorphic, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a bit of the kissing-mice border, with their simple curves of body, tail and ear. Below, you can see it tucked into a frame, though I forgot to sneak my iPhone into the shot.
Z is for Zoomorphic, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Illuminated Alphabet, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: alphabet, black, calligraphy, cats, for sale, glitter gel pen, gold, green, illumination, pen and ink, silver, watercolor
Tentacle Idol
Tuesday, February 19th, 2013
Tentacle Idol by Amy Crook
When I look at the final piece, I imagine some sort of dizzying bas relief in a hidden temple under the depths of the ocean or out of some horrific dreamland in one of HP Lovecraft’s tales. The sepia shadows and gold highlights give this art a steampunk air, but the way the art fades to a vortex of swirling madness is pure horror.
Tentacle Idol, 8″x8″ sumi-e ink, Sharpie marker, and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Tentacle Idol, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of some of the swirling tentacles, their gilt textured and worn, the spirals and suckers just uneven enough to be unsettling if you stare too long. Below, you can see a the art in a frame, up on one of my lovely wheat-gold walls.
Tentacle Idol, framed art by Amy Crook
And this time we have a bit of a bonus! This art started life as an experiment, layering sumi-e ink with Sharpie marker and gold paint and getting… mush. And so, I took photos from the point of mush to show how I nurtured it past the ass point and into a piece of art worth going on your wall.
Getting Past the Ass Point – with Tentacles!
a demonstrative gif by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, gold, sharpie marker, sumi-e ink, tentacles, watercolor
Storm
Monday, February 18th, 2013
“I hope the Dwarves find some shelter before those Stone Giants really get going.”
Storm, The Hobbit fan art by Amy Crook
My tiny fandom obsession continues! The mountains dried with lovely blue-violet swirls in their depths, and now there’s Gandalf, contemplating the oncoming storm as he starts to head into the Misty Mountains after Thorin et al. He’s done all in shades of grey as is appropriate, with Glamdring at his side and his staff in hand. Plus the pointy hat, of course.
Storm, 6″x6″ Japanese watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Storm, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of Gandalf with the colors tweaked to help bring out his eyes, er, details. Below, you can see it snugly resting in an 8″x8″ frame, waiting to find a new home.
Storm, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, gandalf, hobbit, mountains, sky, spirals, tiny fandom, watercolor
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Ampersand
Thursday, February 14th, 2013
Ampersand, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook
I find it appropriate that my Ampersand has fallen on Valentine’s Day. The penultimate character in my alphabet, this black cut paper ampersand floats above the intricately detailed green and gold circuit board background like a particularly gothic microchip. This whole series has been about using modern, nontraditional materials to explore a Medieval art form, and so the ampersand ties it all together.
Ampersand, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen with Arches cover black paper and glue on paper.
Ampersand, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the intricate pattern of interlocking gold on top of the bright circuit board green watercolor, and the three-dimensional ampersand itself really stands out, floating on its spikey feet. Below, in honor of the holiday, I’ve put U & I together.
U & I, framed calligraphy by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Illuminated Alphabet, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: alphabet, black paper, calligraphy, collage, for sale, glitter gel pen, gold, green, illumination, watercolor
Gold Spirals 2
Friday, February 8th, 2013
Gold Spirals 2, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
As promised on Monday, here’s the sequel to the first set of self-indulgent spirals. This one used the same 3 colors of gold, but a different duochrome accent. You can see how the layers build on one another from dark to light, with the duochrome adobe paint making a bright coppery splash in the upper right. Despite the sense of impending chaos, I find these rather peaceful to look at, a lovely mix of matte and metallic, deliberate and gestural.
Gold Spirals 2, metallic and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Gold Spirals 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, I’ve shot this from the corner so it looks almost like sunlight filtering down in swirls rather than rays, exaggerating the contrast from dark to light. Below, you can see this painting and its predecessor on my lovely antique desk. I’ve taken the glass out of the frames to help with glare, and you can see my iPhone hanging out for scale.
Gold Spirals 1 & 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, duochrome, for sale, gold, gold spirals, watercolor
Y is for Yarn
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
Y is for Yarn, calligraphic illumination by Amy Crook
I was having trouble thinking of something good to do for Y, when the lovely ladies in the Starship suggested what was to them the obvious solution – yarn! I got a skein of handdyed cotton yarn from the wonderful Blonde Chicken Boutique, and then set to work. She sent me this gorgeous variegated light pink, so I used my favorite periwinkle paint and purple gel pen to create a background that looked like a tangle of yarn, then embroidered in the letter and border with the lovely pink yarn. I glued the paper to a cardboard backing so it wouldn’t tear through, and now it’s all ready for your favorite knitter, Yael or Yakov.
Y is for Yarn, 5″x5″ handdyed yarn, Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on paper and cardboard.
Y is for Yarn, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shine of light off the purple glitter, and the textures of real and imagined yarn juxtaposed on the mottled periwinkle background. Below, the Y is hanging out with W and A to make WAY on my desk.
W is for Watercolor, A is for Arabesque and Y is for Yarn, 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, periwinkle, pink, purple, watercolor, yarn
Tentacle Deeps 46
Tuesday, February 5th, 2013
Tentacle Deeps 46 by Amy Crook
Something new for the tentacles today! I used the same metallic watercolors from yesterday’s Gold Spirals, though I painted the background on this a while ago, so they weren’t actually sharing a palette. Then tentacles as usual in an opaque Japanese greenish black, and finally the runes borrowed from The Stars Are Right series crawling in shining red up the surface of each, wrapping around and writhing right along with them. I had originally considered doing the runes in green, but I decided the dull glow of red glitter pen would work better for this painting.
Tentacle Deeps 46, 6″x4″ Japanese and metallic watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Tentacle Deeps 46, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the runes curve and writhe with the tentacles, against the background that fades upward from rose to lemon gold. Below, you can see it tucked safely into a frame where it won’t harm anyone. Just don’t look too closely at the runes if you want to keep all of your sanity intact.
Tentacle Deeps 46, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, for sale, gold, red, stars are right, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
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