Posts Tagged ‘pen and ink’

3 Squid and a Mouse

Saturday, July 9th, 2011

3 Squid and a Mouse, sketches by Amy Crook

3 Squid and a Mouse, sketches by Amy Crook

I was considering squid for a painting I eventually left abstract, but these guys got doodled up while I was contemplating how to add the squid in without disrupting the flow of the piece. It’s also part of my tiny emerging practice of doing some sketching in pen, without the crutch of my eraser

3 Squid and a Mouse, pen and ink on scratch paper, not for sale.

Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
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Goth Vines

Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Goth Vines art by Amy Crook

Goth Vines by Amy Crook, $222

Inspired by the same sort of Tim-Burton-esque design as Saturday’s Deplorable Figurine, this piece combines the fractal salt images with pen-and-ink drawing that was later softened with a wet brush.

Despite the fact that I no longer dress up much, my Goth tastes still permeate a lot of my life, from the Living Dead Doll in her coffin atop my bookshelf to the plethora of Nightmare Before Christmas collectibles around the house. I’ve always enjoyed things that make me say, “That’s so weird!” That sensibility shows up in my work sometimes, like today’s piece, not to mention all the zombies, vampires and other such cartoons.

Goth Vines, 5″x5″ ink and salt on watercolor paper, $222, framed, with free shipping.

The now-blue spirals started out as black fountain pen ink, but the water drew out the brown-gold portion of the ink, making golden haloes around the blue-grey centers. The effect gives them an odd glow where they attach to the end of the vines, though actually the vines were drawn in later.

Goth Vines, work in progress, by Amy Crook

Goth Vines, progress, by Amy Crook

I really think this detail shot I got is gorgeous, especially at extreme closeup – click on it (or nearly any image in my posts) to see it bigger!

Goth Vines, detail, by Amy Crook

Goth Vines, detail, by Amy Crook

I like the way the vines seem to grow out of the narrow black frame I found for them.

Goth Vines, framed art by Amy Crook

Goth Vines, framed, by Amy Crook, $222

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
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Zombie Coloring

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Zombie Coloring, cartoon by Amy Crook

Zombie Coloring by Amy Crook

This is thus far the only piece of art I’ve actually finished for my Zombie Family Coloring Book project. Somehow, I just don’t have it in me to draw that many zombies in a row. Who knew?

Still, I’m very pleased with this girl, from her Watchmen t-shirt and bloody, matching socks to her very special crayon holder. Perhaps if I give myself a whole year, I’ll manage a book’s worth of zombies by next Mother’s/Father’s day. Heh.

Zombie Coloring, 7″x5″ pen and ink and Copic markers on paper, not for sale.

Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Snowflakes

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

Snowflakes, art by Amy Crook

Snowflakes by Amy Crook, $222

After seeing the lovely crystal formations in Aglow, I decided to test out what I could get with blue ink and the same paper. The effect was extremely simple but quite lovely, so I decided to keep it as is rather than muddle it up with anything else.

Snowflakes, 5″x5″ pen and ink and salt on watercolor paper, $222, framed, with free shipping.

Here’s a shot of one of the snowflakes up close.

Snowflakes, detail, by Amy Crook

Snowflakes, detail, by Amy Crook

It’s enhanced well by a very simple black frame.

Snowflakes, framed art by Amy Crook

Snowflakes, framed art by Amy Crook

I’ve put a detailed set of shot of the progress behind the cut, so you can see how the snowflakes grew.

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Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Oil Slick

Monday, July 4th, 2011

Oil Slick, art by Amy Crook

Oil Slick by Amy Crook, $199

I’m constantly frustrated by how hard these pieces are to photograph. The few people who have seen them in person agree with me that there’s really no way to capture the texture, the play of light and color, and the overall feel of the sparkling salt. In this case, the salt sucked up the paint and the dark green ink spirals to acquire a dark iridescence like an oil slick or a bird’s wing.

Oil Slick, 5.5″x4.25″ mixed media on embossed card, $199 with free shipping. I’m still on the lookout for frames for these pieces, but they could be mounted in a larger frame quite easily with a simple matte.

You can see below how the salt crystals formed with layers of color, making intriguing tiny patterns within the patterns.

Oil Slick, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Oil Slick, detail 1, by Amy Crook

And here’s a hint of the way the colors shift and change when you move the piece in the light:

Oil Slick, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Oil Slick, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Haloed

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Haloed, art by Amy Crook

Haloed by Amy Crook

For this piece I used salt in a more traditional method to get the haloed starbursts in the blue-black sky. I overworked the section with the moon a little too much, so the paper tore in places, but I do like the overall effect and might try to reproduce it later with a bit more care.

Haloed, 9″x5″ mixed media on paper, nfs.

Haloed, detail, by Amy Crook

Haloed, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
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Monsters of HP Lovecraft Print

Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Monsters of HP Lovecraft Print by Amy Crook

Monsters of HP Lovecraft Print by Amy Crook, $23.23

My 4-year-old printer finally bit the dust 2 weeks ago, and when the time came to replace it, I couldn’t resist the lure of a large-format printer. It prints my cards beautifully (and borderlessly), and now I can make something awesome and new – posters! Actually the color is richer and deeper than the old printer, so my cards look even better now, closer to the originals.

Okay, the best part is really that it just fits into the bookshelf where the old one lived, so I don’t have to try to rearrange everything. But the prints are pretty cool.

Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, and half a dozen others are printed in rich, cartoon colors along with their names and a short description of their place in the Lovecraft Mythos.

I’ve decided to run an open edition of 11″x17″ prints, on high-quality 28-lb bright white laser paper. I’ll be shipping them first class mail in good-quality cardboard poster tubes, so you should get yours in perfect condition and ready to hang. I’ll even sign it!

Monsters of HP Lovecraft Print, 11″x17″ print on paper, $23.23 with free shipping in the US. Available at my Etsy shop.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art
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