Posts Tagged ‘blue’
Blue Moon
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Blue Moon by Amy Crook
I chose soft blue pen and ink to pair with a rich, deep blue background, and then added salt in two different ways for texture. The brightest stars are the now-familiar salt pools, and there’s a scattering of dimmer ones formed by salt sprinkled onto the damp watercolor paint and brushed off once it dried. It was still too stark for me, so I went and found my tiny dot-card sample of interference blue and added haloes of half-there light around each salt pool and the moon, too, which you can barely see in the above scan, and better down in the detail shots below.
Blue Moon, 7″x5″ salt, pen & ink, watercolor and iridescent watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Blue Moon, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can see three of the salt pools up close and personal, light glinting off their facets and a faint shadow of the interference blue. Below, the shimmer’s caught the light and you can see the brushed haloes around each large object, as well as the little starbursts of texture in the background of the deep blue sky.
Blue Moon, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And of course I took a photo of it framed, once I had it all ready for the show. In the sunlight, the background looks less black, though it’s still velvety-matte against the shimmering, sparkling stars and moon.
Blue Moon, framed watercolor by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: blue, blue moon, iridescent, moon, nfs, pen and ink, salt, sold, spirals, watercolor
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Ultramarine
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Ultramarine by Amy Crook, $299
I’ve been wanting something other than plain white for backgrounds on the salt pieces just for contrast, so this time I painted the paper with a very light yellow wash and added in some slightly darker spirals to the mix. This whole piece is really about spirals, from the little watercolor stick spirals that didn’t dissolve even a tiny bit into the salt, to the big ones around the pools. It gets its name from the shade of blue, of course, ultramarine both inside and outside the salt pools.
Ultramarine, 6″x6″ watercolor and salt on paper, $299 framed, with free shipping.
In the same way that my scanner likes to think white paper is really blue, my camera often splashes them with red, so I’d say the real color is somewhere in between the detail below and the scan above. Oh, technology.
Ultramarine, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
Dichrome
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Dichrome by Amy Crook
Despite the rather random way this image came about (and really, do my abstract pieces come about any other way?), I’m really in love with the stuttering flow of the paint and the subtle transition from warm orange to cool, soft blue. The salt pools came later, using a black ink that separates in water into brown and blue, which mixed beautifully with the pink Himalayan salt.
The swoop of paint reminds me of clouds at sunset, breaking up as they rise up into the sky, but then I’m not sure what the salt pools would become, though they were absolutely necessary for the visual balance of the piece.
Dichrome, 6″x6″ watercolor, ink and salt on paper, nfs (sold).
There’s a lot of variation in the salt pools this time around, and here you can really see the colors of them and how they echo the paint colors.
Dichrome, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And here’s another view of the same section that allows you to really appreciate the geometric crystals in the big pool, and the chunk of pink salt with its rough surfaces that’s nearby. I always find the close-up photos of the salt crystal formations fascinating.
Dichrome, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, nfs, orange, salt, sold, watercolor
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Green Blue Violet
Thursday, January 12th, 2012
Green Blue Violet, abstract art by Amy Crook
In contrast to the warm, cheerful harmony of Red Orange Yellow, today’s piece has the spiky green and swirly blue fighting over the tiny violet salt pools. Both of the paint colors were quite granulating, giving a rich texture to the large areas, and interesting color variation where the paint separated. The salt pools also had separating paint, the rich violet turning to pink salt and blue-violet spirals.
Green Blue Violet, 8″x8″ watercolor and salt on paper.
Here you can see the midnight blue swirling around one of the last salt pools it’s captured, with the earthy, grass-stain green just barely visible in the background.
Green Blue Violet, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And below you can see a salt pool that’s surrendered to the blue paint, which creeps in between the crystals to dye them in camouflage.
Green Blue Violet, detail 2, by Amy Crook
You’re welcome to email me if you’d like some help figuring out how to bring this piece into your home, or just want to chat away from the comments.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, for sale, green, salt, violet, watercolor
By Starlight
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
By Starlight by Amy Crook
Another piece inspired by the iconic blue-gold-white of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, there’s a different textural feel to this one on every level, despite being similar in many ways to Midnight Blue. The paper is thicker and of a much softer texture, the salt pools are saturated with bright yellow paint but the spirals are still visible, and the ‘starlight’ is sharp-edged and fragmented instead of a soft glowing circle.
I really just like the feel of it, the swoop of bright stars across the deep blue sky, each one surrounded by its own halo of color.
By Starlight, 5.25″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper.
By Starlight, detail 1, by Amy Crook
There hasn’t been a proper sunny day for photographing these salt pieces in a while, at least not one that’s warm enough to open the back door for the extra light that always makes them shine. Still, you can see the far pool catching a bit of light, as well as the rich texture the paint makes on the paper.
By Starlight, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Here you can see the tiny bit of spreading the salt did on the paper this time, not full snowflakes like some of the pieces I’ve done with this paper, but softened, creeping edges trying to expand beyond the water droplets’ original boundaries.
If you’re interested in this piece and would like to talk, you can comment here or email me, my inbox is always open.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, stars, watercolor, yellow
Zen Blue Cup
Friday, December 16th, 2011
Zen Blue Cup by Amy Crook, $89
No optimists or pessimists here, this cup’s always full. In the same set as yesterday’s crimson, I have this amazing clear teal that my scanner absolutely refuses to pick up properly, so it comes out more of a royal blue. I used the same black to create the nice dark shadow to contrast with the shine on this simple blue cup. I’m a bummed I can’t find these watercolors anywhere anymore, but I used the excuse of running low to buy myself some very nice tubes for future use.
Zen Blue Cup, watercolor on paper, $89 with free shipping.
Categories: Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: blue, for sale, watercolor, zen
Horizon bookmark
Monday, November 21st, 2011
Horizon bookmark by Amy Crook
This little bookmark is a relative of my larger piece, On the Horizon. I’ve been field-testing it and actually the salt crystals are really there to stay. The salt pools are just shallow enough that they don’t scratch up the page or overly stuff the book, and the paper it’s on is a nice sturdy watercolor paper.
Horizon Bookmark, 1.5″x7″ mixed media on paper.
Horizon bookmark, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, bookmark, buy a bookmark, for sale, pen and ink, salt, stars, watercolor
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