Posts Tagged ‘gorey’

Giant Rats 2: Murder? Good.

Thursday, August 8th, 2013

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good. Sherlock art by Amy Crook

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good.
Sherlock art by Amy Crook

Three! Three whole pages inked, ah-ah-ah-aaah. I’m going to try to keep up some sort of useful pace with this project so that someday I might actually get the whole book done and able to be printed in one way or another. After Sherlock’s gratuitous snottiness in the first one, John’s very pleased to see Lestrade’s face and have the prospect of a case to keep Sherlock amused.

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good. 7″x5″ pen & ink on paper.

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good. detail by Amy Crook

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good.
detail by Amy Crook

In keeping with the tradition, above you can see the painstaking pattern on Sherlock’s chair, as well as John’s welcoming smile for Lestrade. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, though it will have a long wait before it can go visit anyone at home. Also, a gratuitous hedgehog.

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good. framed art by Amy Crook

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 2: Murder? Good.
framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Works In Progress
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A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed, by Amy Crook

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed
by Amy Crook

My Series of Uncanny Fears is actually a series now, yay! I found it extra challenging to draw the pattern on the duvet with the monster glaring at me from under the bed all the while. Not that there is a monster, mind you, I’m sure it’s just shadows, and reflections. Nothing to fear. Nothing at all.

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed, 5″x7″ pen & ink on paper.

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed, detail, by Amy Crook

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can get a closer look at that space under the bed and the inexplicable shadows that are totally not reaching toward you now. Not at all. Below, it’s safely behind glass in a frame, just waiting to find the perfect owner.

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed, framed art by Amy Crook

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Under the Bed, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Giant Rats 1: Blogging Again?

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1, Blogging Again? Sherlock art by Amy Crook

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1: Blogging Again?
Sherlock art by Amy Crook

Ages ago, I started a little project combining the worlds of Sherlock with Edward Gorey and my own twisted mind, and I’ve finally gotten back to it! I scripted a 20-page story based incredibly loosely on the offhand mention in one of the original stories of the giant rats of Sumatra, and I have page 1 here for you. Page 2 is sketched, and hopefully this will start the ball rolling a little faster. I’d like to eventually publish them into a little book, which means that there’ll be front and back art, as well, but I think getting more than 2 pages done is the next step.

These pages aren’t for sale yet, because if I do make a book, I’ll try to use Kickstarter to fund it, in which case they’ll be a premium reward level.

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1: Blogging Again?, 7″x5″ pen & ink on paper, nfs (for now).

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1: Blogging Again? detail, by Amy Crook

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1: Blogging Again?
detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of the fine pen texture on Sherlock’s chair. Below, I’ve got it in a frame along with one of my own volumes of Sherlock Holmes.

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1: Blogging Again? framed art by Amy Crook

Giant Rats of Sumatra, page 1: Blogging Again?
framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Works In Progress
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A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors

Thursday, June 20th, 2013

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, by Amy Crook

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, by Amy Crook

I’ve had a note to start this series on my whiteboard for ages, but I finally sat down and worked on this first installment. A Series of Uncanny Fears will visually explore those things that we, as adults, know we shouldn’t be afraid of. It’s an echo of being a kid, feeling a shiver despite our grown-up logic.

Mirrors have been thoroughly demystified by science and yet hold a certain creepy fascination, especially in the dark. Fiction explores mirror worlds, mirror traps, things lurking behind mirrors or traveling through them, impressions left on them or even messages written.

In my bathroom I have a blue canary in the outlet by the light switch to watch over me (no, really!), but I still sometimes turn the lights on properly at 3am when it’s dark and creepy, because of reasons. Mirror reasons.

How about you, what’s your uncanny fear?

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, 5″x7″ pen & ink on paper.

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, detail, by Amy Crook

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see that I did go out of my way to make the mirror extra creepy with a skull motif as well as the built-in candleholders. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, with my quill pen and ink bottle for ambiance.

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, framed art by Amy Crook

A Series of Uncanny Fears: Mirrors, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Giant Rats 16: Don’t You See?

Saturday, July 14th, 2012

"Do you see, John?" - a Sherlock comic by Amy Crook

“Do you see, John?” – a Sherlock comic by Amy Crook

For a few months now I’ve been contemplating the idea of doing a larger work with the Gorey-style shading, taking Sherlock and his Watson on an adventure that I could later put into a short book or something. Apparently, the first step on that path wasn’t deciding on a story or doing thumbnails, but instead drawing a random panel that might or might not fit in the middle, with a cute little one-shot joke.

If I do actually get far enough into the project it seems like it’ll finish (never a guarantee, heh), then I’ll want the originals to be Kickstarter incentives for printing a run of little books, I think, so this one won’t be for sale just yet.

“Don’t you see, John?” Sherlock comic, 7″x5″ pen and ink on paper.

Sherlock comic, framed, by Amy Crook

Sherlock comic, framed, by Amy Crook

These are the smaller size from my B is for Baker Street series, the art itself is 5″x3″ on the 7″x5″ paper, whereas the original four character drawings are 7″x5″ including the text, on a larger 8.5″x5.5″ sheet of paper. These are much easier to frame, and easier to finish as well with significantly fewer square inches of white space to be crosshatched in masochistic detail.

So, what do you think? Would you want a little Sherlock book, perhaps The Giant Rats of Sumatra?

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Tentacle Deeps 8

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Tentacle Deeps 8 by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 8 by Amy Crook

It’s Tuesday, and that means tentacles! Well, at least here it does.

I used four different colors of pen to ink in these tentacles, giving a depth of field that’s harder to do with the crosshatching texture alone. The fourth, palest green only shows up in the signature and as a tiny tip of tentacle peeking out along the left side. I put them down in reverse order, first the black tentacles, then the dark green, and then the lighter, more blurry green, and finally the tiny bit of bright, pale chartreuse.

I’ve been experimenting with other textural shading in other pieces, but for some reason I just really prefer this simple crosshatching when making tentacles. I’ve got at least two more backgrounds waiting to be be-tentacled, however, so perhaps I’ll try something else next time.

Tentacle Deeps 8, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.

I was feeling self-indulgent, so I made a computer wallpaper and iPhone wallpaper of this one. I’ve got it up on my monitor right now!

Tentacle Deeps 8, framed art by Amy Crook

Tentacle Deeps 8, framed, by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles
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