Posts Tagged ‘nfs’
Whiteboard Doodles Redux
Monday, November 1st, 2010
My scanner’s on the fritz, so instead of a recipe, you get more expectation-free art from my whiteboard. Lucky you! Photos taken with my iPhone, and therefore of approximately the same quality as the art. 😉
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: nfs, silly, whiteboard
2 Comments »
Potato Fairy
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
Potato Fairy by Amy Crook
When I first started making my own holiday cards, I carved stamps from potatoes, mushrooms, and sponges, and painstakingly hand-stamped dozens of cards — one year I sent nearly 100 cards out! I’ve since graduated to doing one original and printing the cards from that, though I still sometimes add a bit of hand-painted flair to personal cards.
This was the test print for one year’s cards, done using watercolors (including metallics) painted onto those rough handmade stamps. I chose the crouching fairy, though as I recall the cards didn’t get the mushroom-stamped object he’s crouching in front of. I was experimenting with different methods for making the wings, so there’s some extra texture added as well, in metallic gold, red-violet and softly brushed-on blue-green.
Potato Fairy, 9″x12″ watercolor on sketchbook paper, not for sale.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
Tags: fairy, holidays, nfs, potato stamp, watercolor
Recipe: Rice Pudding
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Like all of my other recipes, this one is adapted from somewhere else, but I’ve been making it for so long I have no idea where anymore.
3 c. cooked rice (I use jasmine rice because that’s what I use for everything, heh)
3 c. milk
2/3 c. sugar (I find raw sugar gives it a richer flavor)
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger and cardamon
dash nutmeg & cloves
1/2 c. raisins (if you add more than this, add more milk to compensate)
2 Tbl. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine everything but the vanilla in a good-sized saucepan and cook on medium heat for ~25 minutes, or until it’s just starting to thicken, definitely thinner than you want for serving. Stir occasionally, and keep watch once it starts to simmer to prevent boilovers and messy stoves, not to mention scorched milk.
Remove from heat, add vanilla, let cool. Eat hot or cold, though I prefer it warm. It’ll completely solidify in the fridge, just stir in some milk if you want to thin it out for eating later.
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange, Words Words Words
Tags: food, nfs, recipe, sharpie marker
2 Comments »
Dancing on Glass
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
Dancing on Glass by Amy Crook
This is another piece from about the same era — I got into a phase where I was painting with acrylics on shards of broken glass. Surprisingly, I didn’t cut myself nearly as much as you might think. You can see the same fascination with dancers, though — I’ve always been pleased with the feeling of grace in this piece.
I never did figure out a good way to display any of these pieces, though, and I’m not sure I even still have them. If I recall correctly, this one’s about the size of a 3″x5″ index card, and the background is literally painted on the back side of the glass, with the figure floating a few millimeters above it on her own surface.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: acrylics, glass, nfs
2 Comments »
Inertial Dampeners
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
Inertial Dampeners by Amy Crook
This piece is a bit of a blast from the past — as the signature says, it was from 1991 and probably originally done in a cheap drugstore sketchbook. I had a real fascination with dancers back in the day, probably due to an utter lack of grace on my own part. Even today, though, I like this as an image of winding down to a state of rest and safety.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: nfs, sharpie marker
Creature Cards
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Creature Cards by Amy Crook
Last month I posted a pencil drawing I called Friendly Card Game and mentioned I was thinking of doing a watercolor version. I traced the basic outlines onto some thick watercolor paper using my light box, so I’d still have the delicately pencil-shaded original, and then it sat around on with my works in progress for a month.
Sunday I got out my watercolors for a tiny client project, and used that chance to experiment with painting up these two. I’d originally pictured them in soft, washed-out colours but I ended up with a much richer palette. I especially like the way the mushroom came out. I’m still pretty new to watercolors, so it was fun to experiment with the different methods of shading.
Creature Cards, 7″x5″ watercolor and gouache on watercolor paper
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: made-up myths, nfs, sold, watercolor
Chibi Catherine Caine
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010
Chibi Catherine Caine by Amy Crook
The latest of my cartoons is the awesome Catherine Caine! She asked for a chibi, which I haven’t gotten to do many of, and I had a lot of fun drawing her irresistible grin while she gave the world a big giant hug. I find this wonderfully appropriate, since Catherine’s enthusiasm for everyone and everything is unassailable by anything but rain.
She’s an Aussie, so instead of a cartoon North America as is usual around these parts, I got to draw a cartoon Southern Hemisphere, which was an interesting challenge since I’m less familiar with the necessary features of the geography there. One of my deep dark secrets is that I’m terrible with the whole social studies realm — geography, history, the works.
Catherine’s red corduroy trousers were striped with one of my awesome refillable Pilot fountain pens from Japan, which is my new favorite place to get art supplies. I almost forgot her awesome spiky ear plugs, since they were hidden in her hair in the photo I’d chosen for drawing her face, but she reminded me.
I love the bright, primary look of this piece, simplified and full of every bit of cheer that Catherine herself showers us with on a regular basis.
Stay Awesome, Catherine!
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, catherine caine, chibi, commission, copic marker, nfs, pen and ink
4 Comments »
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
