Posts Tagged ‘sold’

Death of a Comet

Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

Death of a Comet, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook

Death of a Comet, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook

This painting feels a little like a Rorschach blot to me — I look and see ephemera, fleeting beauty, something that will melt or shift or fade away. Frost on a dark window. Clouds lit up against a midnight sky. Or the comet ISON that it’s named for, breaking up in the blackness of space after flying, Icarus-like, too close to the sun.

What do you see?

Death of a Comet, 7″x5″ iridescent watercolor on Arches cover black paper.

Death of a Comet, detail, by Amy Crook

Death of a Comet, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the way the iridescent paint seems to float above the black paper. This paper is made by setting off a chemical process in the paper pulp rather than dying, so the color will stay a rich, soft black for years. Below, you can see it contrast with the shining paint in sunlight, blossoming in the simple frame.

Death of a Comet, framed art by Amy Crook

Death of a Comet, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
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Tea is Love

Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

Tea is Love, Sherlock parody art by Amy Crook

Tea is Love, Sherlock parody art by Amy Crook

There’s just something special about that person who makes you tea when they make their own without being asked. Despite the contentious onscreen friendship, I’ve always thought there must be quiet moments at 221b Baker Street where John and Sherlock get along.

You can get this sweet image as one of this year’s Valentines in my Etsy shop, and give it to someone else you adore to show you appreciate the little things they do for you. Or to suggest they make you tea* more often. One of those.

Tea is Love, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.

Sherlock Valentine by Amy Crook at Etsy

Sherlock Valentine by Amy Crook
(hedgehog not included)

*I’d love a cup of Earl Grey, thanks.

Categories: Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Five for Silver

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook

Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook

Tuesday seems like a good day for some crows flying through the gloaming. The moon has risen early, gibbous and pale above the evergreens. Soft clouds curl and five black birds fade ghostlike into the shimmering twilight sky.

This is a mix of very different paints that all fall under “watercolor,” with the trees done in pine-scented Christmas paint, the sky textured layers of shimmering Iridescent Moonstone, the moon made of opaque Japanese watercolor, and the birds a translucent black.

Five for Silver, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook

Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see some of the delicate shimmer on the sky, and the painterly brush strokes in the trees and birds. Below, I have it temporarily matted into a frame so you can get a feel for the unusual size.

 

Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook

Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
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He Knows if You’ve Been Bad or Good

Friday, November 15th, 2013

He Knows if You've Been Bad or Good, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook

He Knows if You’ve Been Bad or Good,
a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook

I’m still hard at writing with NaNoWriMo, but yesterday’s card demanded a companion.

Mycroft Holmes is Santa Claus. It makes perfect sense, in a creepy sort of way, he’s already got Minions to do the work and everything. I’m especially partial to the candy cane striped tie, an everyday acknowledgement of his very special secret role. Even more powerful than being the British Government, sort of!

He Knows if You’ve Been Bad or Good, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper. Buy this as a holiday card at my Etsy shop!

two Sherlock holiday cards and a spooky pen made of bone

two Sherlock holiday cards and a spooky pen made of bone

Categories: Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Secret Santa

Thursday, November 14th, 2013

Secret Santa, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook

Secret Santa, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook

Despite NaNoWriMo taking over my brain, the holiday cards continue to trickle out of my pens! This one ended up inspiring tomorrow’s comic, in the way that these things do.

It’s Christmas morning at 221B Baker Street, and John’s a bit mystified by the extra gifts that have appeared under the tree overnight from “Santa.” Sherlock is merely disgusted that Mycroft can’t seem to keep his fingers out of Sherlock’s life for one single holiday.

Secret Santa, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper. Buy this as a holiday card at my Etsy shop!

two Sherlock holiday cards and a spooky pen made of bone

two Sherlock holiday cards and a spooky pen made of bone

Categories: Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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Misty Moon 2

Friday, November 8th, 2013

Misty Moon 2 by Amy Crook

Misty Moon 2 by Amy Crook

A black crow flies against the darkest part of the sky, while mist swirls and floats all around, obscuring the shining moon. The mist drifts in wispy tentacles that light up into spirals when the light hits them just right.

Misty Moon 2, 6″x4″ watercolor and iridescent watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.

Misty Moon 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Misty Moon 2, detail, by Amy Crook

The scanner captures the painting in an in-between state, but you can see above how the stars light up violet and the mist glows blue when the sun hits it. Below, the painting in its frame appears more like it does to the naked eye, with the shimmering spirals hidden, and only the slithering tentacles of mist show through.

Misty Moon 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Misty Moon 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
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Mercy House

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

Mercy House by Amy Crook

Mercy House by Amy Crook

“Sometimes one feels that it would be merciful to tear down these houses, for they must often dream.”
-H.P. Lovecraft, “The Picture in the House”

I’ve been wanting to paint a house to go with this quote for a while, and October seemed the perfect month for a fretful, unhappy wreck of a house to emerge from the cool green background. There’s a quality to the paint that’s hard to capture on film, an unnatural wash watery green across the whole thing that slips it sideways into the world of Lovecraft’s special brand of madness.

Mercy House, 8″x10″ watercolor on watercolor paper.

Mercy House, detail, by Amy Crook

Mercy House, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the tiny glints of sunlight off the blindly staring window, and the black gap where the door once was. I never did decide if those fragments of sun are on shattered glass, or merely filtered through the encroaching leaves surrounding the house. Below, I’ve put the piece in an antiqued gold frame, the better to emphasize the sense of decay.

Mercy House, framed art by Amy Crook

Mercy House, framed art by Amy Crook

This piece always puts Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “The Mercy Seat” in my head. Because of reasons.

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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