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Violet Way
Monday, March 12th, 2012
Violet Way, abstract art by Amy Crook, $555
This is a larger piece like Golden Moon, done with the same black paper. This time I used a pearlescent violet paint and created a swath of larger stars, then filled in with smaller, salt-free spirals to give a feeling of clustered stars, like looking up at the Milky Way. This paint looks white from some angles and a lovely pale violet from others; the scanner picks up the violets pretty well, so for once I think the colors are pretty accurate.
Violet Way, 10″x8″ watercolor and salt on paper, $555 framed, with free shipping.
Like most of my salt paintings, this one started in the spirit of experimentation. I just bought some new watercolors from Japantown (along with ALL the pens), and I wanted to see how they’d work with the salt. techniques. I made a special effort to mix extra paint into the water droplets after they were on the paper, and you can see how it looked while I was working on it below.
Violet Way, work in progress, detail 1, by Amy Crook
You can see one freshly-painted spiral at the bottom, and then the water droplet just above that and to the left is opaque with swirled paint. It settled out after a while, as you can see in the droplets further away, but the salt pools have a definite coating of iridescent paint you can see in the next photo.
Violet Way, work in progress, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Below you can see a more oblique shot of one tiny detail in the finished piece, one single pool of salt surrounded by the little echoing spirals. I really love the way you can see each individual salt crystal, especially if you click through to the larger version of the image.
Violet Way, detail, by Amy Crook
I’ve also made a computer wallpaper, should you like to splash my artificial stars across your computer screen. Finally, you can see it in its frame below, attempting to turn itself into a mirror. Glass reflects, who knew?
Violet Way, framed art by Amy Crook, $555
Tags: black paper, for sale, iridescent, moon, salt, spirals, violet
Posted in Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Flowers, Trees and Landscapes | No Comments »
Tentacle Deeps 28
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 28 by Amy Crook
You can’t have these tentacles, they’re sold! A friend of mine came over to hang out, asked if he could peek in the Big Drawer of Art, and went home with this piece (he left a check behind, yay!).
This paper is interesting, it’s not really meant for watercolors, I don’t think. It’s very absorbent, almost too much so, and it buckles quite a bit when it’s wet. On the other hand, the interesting particulates in the paper shine through the watercolor, giving an impression of distant lights, whether stars or some underwater bioluminescence isn’t clear. I liked the effect so much I started another one in a different shade of blue.
It’s also bigger than my usual tentacles. I’ve been trying to vary my paper sizes more lately (though 5″x7″ is still the dominant size), so I tore this paper down to two 8″x10″ pieces. I guess sometimes size does matter.
Tentacle Deeps 28, 8″x10″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Tentacle Deeps 28, detail, by Amy Crook
Nifty shot of tentacles is nifty. Here, have a wallpaper. Below, you can see the tentacles in my frame with my iPhone, though my friend took the original home all naked to put in a frame he already had. Big tentacles are big!
Tentacle Deeps 28, framed art by Amy Crook
Tags: nfs, sold, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Tentacles | No Comments »
Peacock Blue
Friday, March 2nd, 2012
Peacock Blue, abstract art by Amy Crook, $269
When I was a kid, I had occasion to visit a peacock farm for reasons I really don’t remember now, but I was allowed to gather whole bouquet of discarded feathers. I had them in the corner of my room for years, slowly mouldering in a vase, and I’ve had an odd love for them ever since. My favorite colors are in the cool end of the spectrum, and while I don’t wear a lot of bling I do love shiny, iridescent decorations still.
This piece started with pure ultramarine blue spirals, and then I added salt and droplets of water while the paint was still wet. Once I had the results, I decided to carry through the bright blue through a softer blue and out to cool green. As ever, it’s impossible to really reproduce certain shades of teal with a monitor, but then, I always think these pieces look 100% better in real life.
Peacock Blue, 7″x5″ salt and watercolor on paper, $269 framed, with free shipping.
Peacock Blue, detail, by Amy Crook
I am totally in love with the way watercolor pigments ebb and flow in watery washes, leaving them darker at the edges and softening unexpectedly in layers of texture as the water dries. In fact, I’m using Mist as my computer wallpaper right now, which is all about those textures created when paper, water and pigment interact. Speaking of wallpaper, I used a completely different detail photo to make myself you an iPhone wallpaper.
This piece comes in a frame to protect the salt during shipping and generally make everyone’s life easier, and you can see it framed and ready to go below. And if it looks like the same frame I always use, that’s because it is, but there is no shortage of plain black frames in the world, so never fear.
Peacock Blue, framed art by Amy Crook, $269
If you want to talk to me about payments, pigments or even pomegranates (I’m allergic), feel free to comment here or email me.
Tags: blue, for sale, green, peacock feathers, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »
Tentacle Deeps 27
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 27 by Amy Crook, $222
We have ghostly tentacles writhing against a textured wash of sunset red, orange and gold for our Tentacle Tuesday. I really love all the texture and detail on this one, so I made a wallpaper to share. I make these sort of huge and not particularly specific on the size so that you can just tell your computer to fill the screen and it won’t matter if some of one edge or another gets cropped. I also make the tentacles go left to right because that’s what works for me on my screen, I almost always have certain windows open so I mostly see a few little stripes of background at the left and right edges.
I really like the way the textured paper here created amazing edges on the wash, and then on top of that I used salt in the more traditional manner to create the almost flamelike blossoms of paint in the background. I was so in love with it, I decided to paint the tentacles in washed-out, transparent black to let the background really show through. The smaller, fainter tentacles give it a sense of looking out over a field of them, almost like seaweed rising up from the ocean bottom.
Tentacle Deeps 27, 5.25″x7″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.
This isn’t quite small enough for a standard frame, and I haven’t yet matted it properly into a larger one for photography, but I suspect you’ve seen enough framed tentacles by now to know the drill. Instead, enjoy the spooky bottom-up detail shot.
Tentacle Deeps 27, detail, by Amy Crook
If you’d like to talk to me about tentacles, art, or payment plans for either, just email me!
Tags: orange, red, salt, sunset, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Tentacles | No Comments »
Golden Moon
Monday, February 27th, 2012
Golden Moon, watercolor and salt painting by Amy Crook, $442
Two of my favorite pieces at the Endgame show have been bought, so I took this one and Violet Midnight 2 over there to replace the sold pieces on the wall. Then I realized I’m so far behind in posting that I hadn’t even shown it to you guys here on the site, oops.
I used a gorgeous golden yellow paint to make these spirals, and then added the salt while they were still wet. You can really see how the salt around the “stars” is yellower than the white aura I added to the moon later, sans paint. I like this one because it makes me think of moonrise, of looking up into the sky with the low, yellow moon hanging just off to one side of your vision, rather than taking over the whole show.
It’s bigger than my usual, too, 10″x8″ instead of the smaller size, which gives room for the smaller, saltless star-spirals that I put into the background. The piece is really simple but it’s got a lot of depth for me because it took several sessions to paint all the details, and spent at least two days just growing salt crystals. Each of these salt pieces is part art and part experiment for me, so when I’m working on them I tend to think a lot about the technical aspects and let the aesthetics work themselves out almost meditatively in the spacing, size and color choices.
Golden Moon, 10″x8″ salt and watercolor on black paper, $442 framed, with free shipping.
Golden Moon, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can really see how much whiter the salt is without the paint adulterating it. I love the way this shot came out enough I even made you guys a wallpaper of it. And by you I mean me, of course. Below, I’ve zoomed in on just one pair of stars, so you can see how sparkly and three-dimensional they really are. I actually find it pretty funny that I’ve started making a lot of art that shimmers, glitters and sparkles, since in my real life I’m the least-sparkly person you’ll meet with my unchanging jewelry and boring black t-shirts.
Golden Moon, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally, you can see it in a frame! The shot’s a little dark, but that’s because black paper behind glass is basically a mirror, also known as a huge pain in my butt to photograph.
Golden Moon, framed art by Amy Crook, $442
If you’d like to talk to me about this piece, you can comment below, or email me and I’m always happy to chat about art, payment plans, or whatever else comes to mind.
Tags: black paper, for sale, moon, salt, spirals, stars, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Flowers, Trees and Landscapes | 1 Comment »
Mood Ring
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Mood Ring, abstract watercolor painting by Amy Crook, $323
More experiments with the awesome black paper this week. This paper is actually colored by a chemical reaction in the paper pulp when they manufacture it, so the velvety black color is completely lightfast. Possibly more so than the paint and inks I use, actually.
The deep purple paint nearly disappears into the paper, but the opaque red pulls it into visibility, and both colors dye the salt here and there. I think I did tint this salt with ink as well, but I’m having a hard time remembering. The end result had a very ’70s feel to it to me, hence the title. Yeah, I said hence.
Mood Ring, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper, $323 framed, with free shipping.
Something about the middle ring in the group of 3 catches the light much more than the other rings, which you can see in the detail below.
Mood Ring, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Below you can see the purple and red paint bleeding into the salt in the circles down in the lower right. I also made an iPhone wallpaper of the three central circles, and am sneaking it in here for those who read all the words.
Mood Ring, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And this one actually does fit into a frame, so you can see it next to my iPhone (for scale only, sorry) below.
Mood Ring, framed art by Amy Crook, $323
Tags: black, for sale, purple, red, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »
Tentacle Spiral 2
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Tentacle Spiral 2 by Amy Crook, $222
As predicted, I’ve got a second installment for my Tentacle Spiral series. This started out as something else, but once I looked at the smudgy, swirly green background I just knew it needed tentacles. I mixed up a very dark green that’s a little translucent, so you can see some of the other colors where the tentacles grow thin, as though they’re not quite fully in this world.
Tentacle Spiral 2, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.
Tentacle Spiral 2, detail, by Amy Crook
These tentacle spiral pieces also look very cool when photographed at an angle like this, so much so I even made a wallpaper of this one. It’s been ages since I shared one, so I figured it was about time.
Tags: for sale, spirals, tentacle spiral, tentacles, watercolor
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Tentacles | No Comments »
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