Posts Tagged ‘black’
Moon Dark
Friday, January 6th, 2012
Moon Dark by Amy Crook
I really love how stark and simple this piece is. I was tempted to add more color to it, but in the end I think the copper moon and golden, salt-haoled stars are best on their own. In a simple black frame, it’s really striking, a slice of night for a desk, wall or bedside table.
Moon Dark, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper, nfs.
Moon Dark, detail, by Amy Crook
Here you can see how the salt picked up a tiny bit of the iridescence from the paint, though mostly it sparkles all on its own.
Moon Dark, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: black, copper, gold, moon, nfs, salt, spirals, stars, watercolor
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Ninja at Night
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Ninja at Night by Amy Crook
Another gift painting, this one by request, sort of, from the person who bought me the Japanese watercolor set for my birthday. After seeing the raised, opaque way it dried on my two Radial Symmetry paintings, he mentioned that he’d like to see how black-on-black would look, and thus, a ninja crept into being.
Ninja at Night, 5″x5″ watercolor on paper, not for sale.
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: black, nfs, ninja, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 20
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 20 by Amy Crook
Usually for these I paint the background and then put in the tentacles, but this time I decided to go about it the other way. The watercolor wash didn’t disturb the Sharpie in the foreground at all, though it did give the tentacles a distinct red tint. It did soften the grey pen-and-ink tentacles in the background so they look a bit more surreal.
I still need to properly frame this one because of the odd size, but rest assured, like all of the Tentacle Deeps series, this painting will ship framed to its future home.
Tentacle Deeps 20, 4″x8″ mixed media on paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black, brush pen, for sale, red, sharpie, tentacle deeps, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 19
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 19 by Amy Crook
The background on this is a rich, pure quinacridone gold wash that glows with color like a sunset. I used a brush pen to create the tentacles, which silhouette nicely against the gold. The ink took forever to dry on the thick watercolor paint, but once it did the blackest areas look rich and matte against the slightly glossy paint.
Tentacle Deeps 18, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black, brush pen, for sale, gold, tentacle deeps, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 18
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 18 by Amy Crook
More tentacles! I started this piece with salt that had already been gently used and had a coating of color on the outside, arranging them in a pattern that made me think of balloons floating up or perhaps fluff blowing off a dandelion. Once I got the idea to attach them to tentacles, however, I couldn’t resist! I used several shades of red and orange ink to create the tentacles, and of course my scanner hates red dyes and so a lot of the subtle gradation you can see in person is lost.
I decided to create the “deeps” part of the painting with simple crosshatching, electing to go with a fairly loose style which often ran into the tentacles, which makes them just a bit more unreal. I do wonder what the salt pools represent in this context, attached at the end of each vivid red tentacle. Egg sacs? Sensory organs? Lunch?
Tentacle Deeps 18, 7″x5″ mixed media on paper.
Tentacle Deeps 18, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: black, crosshatching, for sale, pen and ink, red, salt, tentacle deeps, watercolor
Midnight Rain
Friday, October 7th, 2011
Midnight Rain by Amy Crook
This is a cool echo of the fiery copper from yesterday’s art. Although this is the same paint I used in Jellyfish Bloom, the bright aqua pigment sinks into the black paper, leaving a watery echo of peacock-iridescent shimmer floating on top.
The salt this time picked up some of the green from the pen I used, but it’s quite pale inside the opaque matrix of the crystals. They’re darker where the paint coats them, but everything about this piece came out subtle and ghostly. Appropriate for Halloween, I think.
Midnight Rain, 5″x5″ mixed media on paper.
Midnight Rain, detail, by Amy Crook
When the sunlight hits this one, the iridescent paint goes purple on the paper in lovely contrast to the rich teal you see where it coats the salt crystals. From another angle, it looks more blue, as you can see below in the framed photo.
Midnight Rain, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black, for sale, iridescent, pen and ink, salt, teal, watercolor
Copper Midnight
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
Copper Midnight by Amy Crook, $323
This is the first of a pair of pieces I made together using Arches Cover Black paper. I love that this velvety black paper is fade-proof, because it’s not dyed but instead turns black from a chemical reaction set off in the paper. It’s art with science! Not my science, but still.
I made salt circles with my trusty orange pen, which barely picked up at all into the opaque white crystals this time. Then I used metallic copper watercolor for the ripples around each little pool, and copper gel pen for the signature, making an eerie monochrome piece very appropriate for the Halloween season.
Copper Midnight, 5″x5″ mixed media on paper, $323, framed, with free shipping.
Below you can see how the iridescent paint catches the light and glows with shimmery copper.
Copper Midnight, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Here you can see just one salt pool, with the copper coating the salt on one side and making it look like it’s almost made of some strange metallic crystal instead of mundane salt. I’ve always liked how each little ring of salt is its own tiny henge of sorts, big crystals rising up around the scattered few in the center.
Copper Midnight, detail 2, by Amy Crook
When the sunlight isn’t hitting them, the places where the paint was thinnest almost sink completely back into the black paper like ghosts, though it seems to float above the paper where it’s thickest. You can see it in its frame, below, with my iPhone for scale.
Copper Midnight, framed, by Amy Crook, $323
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black, copper, for sale, iridescent, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
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