There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today
Posted on April 4th, 2016
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today,
6″x6″ ink and Primatek watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
As you can see, mineral paints were a theme for this month! Fall in love with granulation all over again, the magical texture you get with certain pigments, watery paint, and rough paper.
A ruined city lurks below the apocalyptic sky, tendrils of smoke rising from the burnt-out buildings. There’s a little black spot on the sun, which glows a sullen red and drips something like light.
(It’s my soul up there.)
I’d apologize for the earworm, but I’m not sorry.
It’s the same old thing as yesterday, really.
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the dripping circle of the red sun and its odd black spot against the beautiful texture of grey-blue sky. Below, this little post-apocalyptic wasteland is tucked into a frame, a gorgeous reminder of a future that never was.
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: brush and ink, city, horizons, it's my soul up there, nfs, primatek, ruins, sold, the police, watercolor
Storm
Posted on April 3rd, 2016
Storm, 6″x4″ Primatek watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Like stormclouds rising up, or perhaps another view of the sky in my next painting, these earthy mineral paints make a storm I wouldn’t want to be stuck out in. Despite the beautiful bright spot breaking through, there’s something ominous about the colors and the gathering clouds looming in from all sides.
You could stare for hours, picking out the shapes the same way you can in the real sky. Melancholy meditations on the meaning of precipitation, perhaps.
Or just waiting for the rain to come and clear the air.
Storm, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the detail in the lower left, the rich deep bloodstone and swathes of purpurite, with just a hint of Minnesota pipestone all adding earthy, stormy notes to the roiling paint. Below, the piece is in a temporary frame, waiting to go to its new home.
Storm, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: primatek, sold, watercolor
Bloodstone Falls
Posted on April 2nd, 2016
Bloodstone Falls, 12″x9″ Primatek and iridescent watercolor on Bristol
Beautiful bloodstone mineral pigment is mixed in with iridescent scarab red to create an earthy blend with a secret shimmer. The green sparkle shows up in strong light, like emeralds caught in the flow of river silt.
Even though the Bristol is a very smooth surface, the bloodstone still granulated gorgeously, adding a subtle texture to the image.
This Pathways painting would be perfect for an earth witch, with its half-seen shapes and magical secrets hiding in the abstract neutral tones.
Bloodstone Falls, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the iridescent green pigment catching the light, surrounded by the reddish brown of the bloodstone mineral. Below, the piece is in a frame, all ready to find its place on a wall, desk, or in a secret niche.
Bloodstone Falls, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
Tags: bloodstone, for sale, interference, pathways, primatek, watercolor
Ullage
Posted on March 29th, 2016
Ullage: the amount that a vessel lacks being full
5″x7″ brush & ink and Primatek watercolor on paper – $45
This past Wednesday’s word is actually a term from beer and winemaking, yum! A cask or bottle of wine or beer requires a certain amount of ullage in order for the little yeasties to do the fermenting, but too much and you’ve shorted your measure.
I still wanted to bring that whole “glass half empty” metaphor into it, at least visually, so I went for a glass rather than a bottle or cask. I painted this whole thing live on Persicope; come join me some Wednesday around 2-3pm Pacific.
In the meantime, I hope your glass is just as full as you want it to be, of whatever suits!
Categories: Pretty Words, Series and Books
Tags: brush and ink, primatek, watercolor, word art, word art weds
Tea: 11th Doctor
Posted on March 24th, 2016
Tea: 11th Doctor, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper
One of my favourite patrons commissioned me to draw a series of 4 little comic portraits of her favourite characters with their favourite teas. Favourites all around!
This first piece in the Tea Series is the Eleventh Doctor, drinking delicately out of his decorated cup and saucer. I’d like to say the Time Lord knows better than to put milk or sugar in his oolong, but this is a man deeply fond of fish fingers and custard in combination, so who knows.
We’ll get to the other three next month, after the Floating Gallery has drifted away.
Categories: Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: all rights reserved, commission, copic marker, doctor who, eleventh doctor, kim, nfs, pen and ink, sold, tea, tea series
Tmesis
Posted on March 22nd, 2016
Tmesis: a word or phrase that is split in two and another word is added in the middle
7″x5″ pen & ink and Primatek watercolor on paper – $70
Grammar words are the best words. Today’s fan-bloody-tastic example is “tmesis,” which is also the only word in the English language to start with ‘tm.’
I did the inks for this on Periscope, and then took a few days to pick a lovely Primatek palette of three beautifully granulating natural pigments to keep with the pointy goth theme. The rusty Minnesota Pipestone had a tendency to smudge and travel on me, so I went with that and added a “bloody” fingerprint over the tmesis in my tmesis.
Dreamt is the only word to end in ‘mt.’
Tmesis, work in progress by Amy Crook
Categories: Pretty Words, Series and Books
Tags: pen and ink, primatek, watercolor, word art, word art weds
March Patreon Art
Posted on March 17th, 2016
4 bookmarks by Amy Crook, 1.5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on comic backing board
My wonderful backers on Patreon this month gave me some great prompts, and so we have a dragon, a cat, some spring flowers, and Rory from Gilmore Girls. I was apparently feeling the purple, though to be fair I knew the dragon person liked purple, and I’ve always associated spring with lilacs.
If you’d like to see me sketch to your specs next month, become a patron yourself!
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: bookmark, cat, copic marker, dragon, gilmore girls, kim, lilac, patreon, pen and ink, rain
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