Posts Tagged ‘tentacles’
Blood Moon 5
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014
Blood Moon 5 by Amy Crook
Another Blood Moon made its way into my work queue this month, this time by adding some very subtle tentacles to an older painting in lieu of the previous image. This one is much more eerie than the last one, the bloody color leeching from the shadow to the white parts of the moon, and a second, smaller moon waiting off to one side, ruddy and strange. This sky is not our sky, or perhaps it is our sky many millennia hence, when the stars have become right and Great Cthulhu will rise up from R’lyeh to reclaim the planet for himself.
Blood Moon 5, 5″x7″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Blood Moon 5, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can more clearly see the subtle mist and dark black tentacles rising up from the bottom of the painting, reaching toward the bloody moons. Below, the piece rests in a frame, a little window to some awful future*, or perhaps somewhere very far away indeed.
Blood Moon 5, framed art by Amy Crook
*Perhaps it’s Thundarr the Barbarian’s future, instead of Cthulhu’s. I always did like Ookla.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, blood moon, for sale, japanese watercolor, moon, more cowbell, tentacles, watercolor
Meet Me on Saturn
Tuesday, March 4th, 2014
Meet Me on Saturn, watercolor by Amy Crook
If you don’t know what movie I’m referencing here, get thee to Netflix* and watch Beetlejuice!
I decided I wanted to paint some stripey tentacles, so I got out my watercolors and popped in the DVD for inspiration. I decided on the off-color sky with its almost greenish blues and brighter golds after seeing the ghosts ending up on Saturn, and since that’s where the stripey sandworms come from, it seemed appropriate for a title.
I am especially pleased with the way the two outer tentacles are meeting up over the curl of the third. Are they parents and child, all part of the same creature, or is it just a third wheel?
The ways of tentacles are mysterious.
Meet Me on Saturn, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Meet Me on Saturn, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the curl of tentacle, and the details of the delicate shading on and around it. Below, I’ve got the tentacles in a frame. They’re currently in my living room, where I can see them every day.
Meet Me on Saturn, framed art by Amy Crook
*Not that I have any idea if Netflix has it.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: beetlejuice, for sale, stripes, tentacles, watercolor
Pollen
Monday, November 4th, 2013
Pollen by Amy Crook
Continuing with my new tradition of reworking old art, this piece has very little resemblance to its forebear. The soft black paper is entirely covered in a dark, velvety red like old blood, and each little salt pool has a halo of iridescent garnet. The salt pools, originally a dull pink from the Himalaya sea salt, have been dyed a bright shimmering blue to match the tentacles. They reminded me of glowing motes of pollen drifting on the breeze, which is how I got the name.
I’ve got to admit, I really hope I don’t ever have to inhale these alien grains of pollen. I’d hate to see what kind of allergy attack they’d produce — or find blue tentacles growing in my brain.
Pollen, 5″x5″ salt and watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Pollen, detail, by Amy Crook
The big central crystal in this formation refused to be dyed blue, so it’s the only bit of the original pink left in the piece. Above, you can see the shimmering iridescent paint fading into the deeper background color — a natural-mineral paint called, appropriately, bloodstone. Below, the piece has been tucked into a frame with some extra tentacles to make it feel at home.
Pollen, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, for sale, iridescent, more cowbell, salt, tentacles, watercolor
Old Friends Who’ve Just Met
Tuesday, August 6th, 2013
Old Friends Who’ve Just Met, Muppets fan art by Amy Crook
I was watching The Muppet Movie the other day, and if there was every a Muppet to get himself in a friendly situation with a tentacle monster, it’s Gonzo. The title comes from Gonzo’s big song, where he sings, “There’s not a word yet, for old friends who’ve just met.” Given his penchant for putting starfish in his pants in Muppet Treasure Island, I think Gonzo and the tentacle monster are going to get along just fine.
Old Friends Who’ve Just Met, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Old Friends Who’ve Just Met, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see Gonzo up close, along with the spot where my inks smeared, ironically while I was specifically trying not to smear them with my hand and so I put a pencil board over them. I’m just having a bad week with inks, man. Below, you can see it in a frame, just waiting to go back there someday. I feel I should point out that I had my choice of tentacle monsters and Muppet action figures, Pez dispensers and plushies to choose from for this photo. Gonzo in his cannon won because he was closest.
Old Friends Who’ve Just Met, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: copic marker, for sale, gonzo, i'm going to go back there someday, muppets, pen and ink, tentacles
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Tentacle Critters from Ann Littell
Wednesday, July 17th, 2013
What’s in the mysterious box?
I did not make these things! The wonderful Ann Littell, with whom I went to high school, came out to CA and brought me the awesomest surprise of all. I was not expecting her to have a gift for me, and I have some guilt that I haven’t returned the favor yet, but it’s fleeting because I was totally gobsmacked. Also I keep getting distracted by how awesome these are.
Note that Ann doesn’t make these for sale, so I’m just luckier than you.
Blue paper like water! And ooooooh tentacles.
Above, you can see what I saw as I opened the box, and share in my excitement. TENTACLES! What could they beeee? Below, they’re out of their box and sitting on top.
Three Wee Beasties!
They’re really well-made and I love the colors! The squid is a lovely blue-grey with lighter fins, and his tentacles have this great curl to them. The jellyfish is this great combo of two shimmery pink yarns that work really well together, and he’s got a really good mix of tentacle sizes and lengths. The octopus is such a great color set, all bright and cheery in very Amy colors, and when laid flat on the table his tentacles make a great little swoopy pattern that translates well into sitting around. You’ve already seen these guys guest starring on some of my art posts, and you can expect to see more of them!
Thanks, Ann!
Squid, Jellyfish and Octopus, an awesome Trifecta
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: awesomeness, mine not yours, nfs, not me, tentacles
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Tentacle Spiral 6
Tuesday, July 16th, 2013
Tentacle Spiral 6 by Amy Crook
This painting reminds me of looking into a pool of water that reflects the silvery moon. Not that I’ve ever been able to see writhing tentacles reaching in from all sides, slithering under the water and trying to capture the moon in their curls. The silver seems to float on top of everything else, even the details that were added after, though there’s little pen-and-ink details that scratch their way through the surface to add an extra bit of visual interest.
Tentacle Spiral 6, 6″x4″ Japanese watercolor, metallic watercolor, pen & ink and Sharpie marker on watercolor paper.
Tentacle Spiral 6, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the secret coppery pen-scratches adding little halos of movement around some of the tentacles, and the deeper blacks etched into the silvery Sharpie curls as well. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, giving the tentacles a more otherworldly feel as they sneak in from all sides, grasping at moonlight.
Tentacle Spiral 6, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, sharpie, silver, spirals, tentacle spiral, tentacles, watercolor
Brainton Soup
Tuesday, May 21st, 2013
Brainton Soup by Amy Crook
I have a friend who always says that wonton soup looks like little brains floating in broth, so, this is totally her fault. The tentacles are taking place of the bok choi, cabbage, spinach or whatever random greens your chosen Chinese place uses in their soup. Also, tentacles. I even gave the bowl a nice design of my very own madness-inducing fake Mythos alphabet. Because I could.
What’s sad is that I’ve now done enough paintings with that text in it that I could generate this one without looking up a reference. Either that, or it really is all messages from beyond the stars.
I’m thinking this would make a great t-shirt, so if there’s interest it might go up on my meager little Redbubble account. What do you think?
Brainton Soup, 7″x5″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Brainton Soup, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of the brains and tentacles. I tried to color the brains somewhere between the warm yellow of wonton wrappers and the unhealthy pink of a real brain, and I think the result is pleasantly disturbing. Below, you can see the brains in a frame, with Cthulhu there to keep the tentacles in line.
Brainton Soup, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: brains, copic marker, for sale, pen and ink, tentacles
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