for sale « Antemortem Arts | Fine Art & Custom Paintings

Posts Tagged ‘for sale’

Horton’s Field

Monday, April 16th, 2012

Horton's Field, watercolor by Amy Crook, $169

When I first created this background, there were these water spots of yellow in the midst of the zoisite green fog that reminded me of a cluster of Seussian flowers. I went back in with diluted white to highlight those little spots, and then put in ground and stems and a tree that all stuck to that original Dr. Seuss aesthetic. I actually put the tree in last, because the big open golden sky above the flowers seemed to dwarf them, where the tree shelters without taking over.

Horton’s Field, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper, $169 with free shipping.

Horton's Field, detail, by Amy Crook

Above you can see a detail photo of some of the flowers, and the grey-green fog of zoisite they’re trying so very hard to cheerfully peek through. Below, you can see the way it looks framed, adding some bright sunshine yellow to my desk.

Horton's Field, framed art by Amy Crook

Tags: Dr. Seuss, for sale, green, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Shop - Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Shop - Whimsical and Strange, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange | No Comments »

Spiral Splash

Friday, April 6th, 2012

Spiral Splash, abstract art by Amy Crook, $299

This is another of those pieces that looks different from every angle. From the three dimensional salt to to the iridescent paint, it catches the light and the eye differently depending on how you look at it.

In this case I painted in the swishy, splashy gold spirals, and then added the blue-infused salt water in a bit of controlled chaos. Then I repeated the experiment with blue spirals, so some of the shapes are rimed in cold blue while others are edged in gilt.

Spiral Splash, watercolor and salt on paper, $299 framed, with free shipping.

Spiral Splash, detail 1, by Amy Crook

You can really see the difference in the blue and gold paints in the shot above, with the cold, grainy blue making the left side look like it’s frosted over, while the shining gold on the left adds a rich warmth to the shape on the right. Below, I took a photo of the whole thing from the top down. I especially like the progression of color in the shape in the lower right, the way you can really see that the blue paint settled into the center of each shape while the gold floated to the edges.

Spiral Splash, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Tags: black paper, blue, for sale, gold, iridescent, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »

Spiral Islands

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

Spiral Islands by Amy Crook, $333

This is actually the first piece I started with my salt-saturated solution, before adding the blue paint to the bottle. I was experimenting with the delivery, which is much less precise, trying to make spirals to go with the messy scribbled-pen spirals already on the page. You can see where they intersected, the salt water picked up the brown pigment from the black ink and left the rest behind, giving those pools an orange cast.

After I painted in the blue-black background, the whole thing reminded me of a cluster of islands in some turbulent ocean. I especially like how some of the salt spirals are nearly intact, while others are barely a suggestion of broken lines.

Spiral Islands, mixed media on paper, $333 framed, with free shipping.

Spiral Islands, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see a close-up of just one of the salt spirals and how it intersects with the ink spiral beneath it. The two separate pools got different amounts of ink infused into them, so the lower one is visibly orange while the upper curl is barely off white.

Below, I’ve taken a shot of the lay of the land, as it were, and this shining, mysterious little archipelago makes a great computer wallpaper.

Spiral Islands, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Once it’s safely tucked into its frame, it feels even more map-like to me. Here there be dragons, I guess?

Spiral Islands, framed art by Amy Crook, $333

Tags: black, blue, for sale, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | 1 Comment »

Tentacle Deeps 32

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

Tentacle Deeps 32 by Amy Crook, $333

This tentacle painting is much more subtle and mysterious than the usual, covered almost entirely in salt crystals. There’s a dark violet-black background hiding under all that salt, and then iridescent violet tentacles. Then I inundated the whole thing with my potion of salt, water and paint. After it dried, I went in with black ink and brought the tentacles back up out of the sparkling murk I’d created.

The effect in the end is both murky and sparkly at the same time, and really does make me think of deep R’lyeh where mysteries slumber, waiting to rise up through the blue deeps to the surface.

Tentacle Deeps 32, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper, $333 framed, with free shipping.

Of course it’s terribly hard to catch the feel of this art in a scan or photo, so much of it changes with the light and angle, but I’ve taken some detail photos to try.

Tentacle Deeps 32, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Above is the usual photo from the bottom of the tentacles, but this time it almost looks like an 80s fantasy movie set after they applied all the glitter. You can see the swirling colors and shapes, and the tentacles dark and mysterious running through it. Below, I took a shot of the longest tentacle and the varying textures in and around it. I liked the way that one turned out with its shining squares on the left and sand-like salt crystals to the right, so I made you yet another wallpaper. Don’t you feel special?

Tentacle Deeps 32, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Tags: blue, for sale, iridescent, salt, sumi-e ink, tentacle deeps, tentacles, violet, watercolor
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Tentacles | No Comments »

Blue Moon 2

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Blue Moon 2, abstract art by Amy Crook, $323

Even though this piece shares a name and some materials with my first Blue Moon, that’s about all they have in common. The blues in this are all muted except for the vivid French Ultramarine moon itself, and even the little halos of iridescent paint became quite subtle painted wet-in-wet.

I made the 7 stars the usual way with paint and salt and water, but the moon was part of my newest experiment where I put paint into some water I had already saturated with as much salt as I could boil into it. Pretty much all of this week’s art was made with this technique, for some fascinating results. Sparkly ones!

Blue Moon 2, 5″x5.25″ salt and watercolor on paper, $323 framed, with free shipping.

Blue Moon 2, detail 1, by Amy Crook

You can see little particles of the iridescent paint around the borders of the halo, and I thought the shot of the moon itself came out so well I made a wallpaper for you. Yes, you.

Below, you can see the lightning-like formations around the edges of some of the pools, and the way I brushed the outer rim of the salt pools with the blue-black paint, which sinks into the crevices and gives it deep shadows.

Blue Moon 2, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Since this one isn’t quite square, I haven’t framed it yet, but it’ll get its lovely black frame before it goes to live in its new home.

Tags: black, blue, for sale, moon, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Shop - Flowers, Trees and Landscapes | No Comments »

Pattern Recognition

Friday, March 30th, 2012

Pattern Recognition, abstract art by Amy Crook

This piece started out as tiny bead-like droplets of salt-infused ink on the paper. The salt crystals that grew were small and black, evenly spaced across the ink circles, and the ink was actually coating the salt so they hardly sparkled at all. I took a wet brush and idly doodled the uppermost right-hand pattern by re-wetting the ink and drawing it out in three long, swooping lines. Using water to separate this ink shows off its complex color structure of blue and orangey-brown, and so I used the same method to make patterns around the rest of the ink dots as well.

Since I gently dissolved some of the ink off of the salt crystals, they regained a tiny bit of sparkle, so this image that could have been boring black and white had I made it with pen and ink, has a three-dimensional, full-color palette of tiny details. Sometimes it’s worth it to do things the ridiculously complicated way.

Pattern Recognition, 5″x5.25″ ink and salt on paper, $234 framed, with free shipping.

The detail shot below shows off both the color variation in the “black” ink, and the dull shine of the tiny salt crystals. To give you a sense of scale, the entire design in this photo is about the size of a quarter.

Pattern Recognition, detail, by Amy Crook

I haven’t yet framed this piece, it’s just a tiny bit too big for a 5″x5″ frame, so it’ll get mounted into a larger 8″x8″ frame before going to its new home.

Tags: brush and ink, for sale, ink, salt
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »

Tentacle Deeps 31

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Tentacle Deeps 31, watercolor by Amy Crook, $222

I’m still enamored of these paints that are ghostly pale from some angles, and richly colored from others. This one looks like fine gilding from the right angle, but turns almost white and translucent from the wrong one. I couldn’t resist the idea of golden tentacles, though!

Tentacle Deeps 31, 4″x6″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.

My camera picked up the golden color quite well, though I ended up leaving the background a little more purple than it is in reality because, well, it looks cool.

Tentacle Deeps 31, detail, by Amy Crook

I’m going to be doing an order this week of, zomg, Tentacle Blankies! I’m only doing pre-orders, though, so if you want tentacles on a blankie of your own, email me!

The piece looks nice framed, below, with my usual iPhone for scale. I considered using a dollar, but then, I have no idea of my international readers (hi!) know how big a dollar is, and yet it’s safe to assume most of you have seen someone holding their iPhone. Weird.