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In the Spiraling Blue

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

In the Spiraling Blue, abstract art by Amy Crook, $333

This art is deceptively simple, just one color of paint on the soft, cream paper. French Ultramarine is a rich, bright blue and it mixes pretty well with the salt to give a pale blue tint to the crystals without dulling their luster. This is the last of 3 pieces I did experimenting with various shades of blue paint, and it sat around the longest, trying to figure out what else it needed.

It turns out, it just needed for me to decide it was finished.

Sometimes art is like that, there’s always the temptation to take it one step further and possibly ruin it. This sat in my shelf for a few weeks while I glanced over and considered what else I might do with it, and eventually I realized that the strong, swooping spirals were enough by themselves, especially mixed with the tiny ones at the center of each salt pool.

In the Spiraling Blue, 7″x5″ salt and watercolor on paper, $333 framed, with free shipping.

In the Spiraling Blue, detail 1, by Amy Crook

The camera really shows both the soft sky blue color of the salt and the way it sparkles in the sunlight. It also tends to wash the paper with slightly more yellow than it has, giving the whole thing a blue-and-gold feeling that’s more subtle in the real thing. This iPhone wallpaper shows off the real colors a little better.

In the Spiraling Blue, detail 2, by Amy Crook

Tags: blue, for sale, salt, spirals, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »

Tentacle Deeps 30

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Tentacle Deeps 30 by Amy Crook, $222

I actually took the time to trim this cool green cardstock down to size, so it fits just fine in a 4″x6″ frame. I realize I have a ton of frames that size, from when I was trying to get the handmade postcards to fit. I finally gave up and started matting them into a bigger frame, so I’ve got a bunch of extra frames that obviously need tentacles.

The background is pure zoisite green, granulated and squamous just the way I like it. The foreground tentacles are a blue-black that gets bluer as the tentacles “recede” into the translucent background layers. I like the extra dimension the piece gets from colored paper and colored tentacles as well as the usual colored background, the whole thing is sort of eerie and otherworldly.

Also, green.

Tentacle Deeps 30, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.

To purchase this piece, please contact STUDIO Gallery.

Tentacle Deeps 30, detail, by Amy Crook

The color in the above close-up shot is a bit off, my camera keeps trying to add red to correct the green, but it’s still cool. Below you can see it with my iPhone for scale. I always think it’s neat seeing the art reflected in the surface of the phone, even if I don’t love the reflections of the room in the glass on the artwork.

Tentacle Deeps 30, framed art by Amy Crook, $222

To purchase this piece, please contact STUDIO Gallery.

Tags: blue, crane and co, for sale, green, studio gallery, 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 »

Mother Hydra

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

Mother Hydra cartoon by Amy Crook, $69

I’ve taken some liberties here and used a more classic interpretation of a hydra, rather than the Lovecraftian description of Father Dagon’s bride. There’s just no way to make a vast pool of screaming faces cute, really.

As it is, I can totally imagine at least one of her heads yelling, “No more wire hangers!” She’s even got pearls and lovely pink-painted claws nails.

Just don’t mention the screaming faces and monstrous claws pressing against her heavy, pregnant belly. Or think about what sort of monsters she’s the mother of, if you want to sleep tonight.

Mother Hydra, 5″x7″ pen and ink and Copic markers on paper, $69 with free shipping.

Tags: cartoon, copic markers, cthulhu, etsy, for sale, lovecraft, pen and ink, weeble
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Things I'm a Fan Of | No Comments »

Outlier

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Outlier, abstract art by Amy Crook, $399

Sometimes I can’t really explain why I like a piece of art, I just really do, and this is one of those. The scan really doesn’t do it justice, the green whorls and rays, and the purple lines joining the various salt pools. This one started with the salt pools in varying color intensities, then I put in the gel pen lines, and finally the spirals of watercolor. The watercolor picked up the glitter from the pen lines, and so there’s a subtle shimmer all through each one.

Outlier, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper, $399 framed, with free shipping.

Outlier, detail 1, by Amy Crook

Above is the smallest, darkest and furthest-flung of the salt pools. There’s a little scribbled spiral of purple around just this one outlying pool, and you can see how the glitter got distributed all through the spiral of watercolor. Below, a photo of three of the other pools in a row (and that wash of red in the upper left my camera seems determined to give this paper, sigh). I made an iPhone wallpaper of a similar shot, and I’m using it for my lock screen right now. Or at least until I change my mind again.

Outlier, detail 2, by Amy Crook

I like the way it looks in a frame, too, as though everything’s pulling against the purple lines and trying to find a way to sneak out of the frame entirely, tied together by forces you can’t quite name.

Outlier, framed art by Amy Crook

Tags: for sale, glitter gel pen, green, iridescent, purple, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »

Implied Goldfish

Thursday, March 15th, 2012

Implied Goldfish, watercolor by Amy Crook, $399

This is the sort of art that just makes me feel a little bit more delighted with the world when I look at it. Happy little goldfish swim around partially camouflaged by the white paper, while rings of sparkly blue gel pin circle the three-dimensional salt formations. Are they stones? The first fat drops of rain? Strange portals to another world? The implications are endless.

Implied Goldfish, 7″x5″ mixed media on paper, $399 framed, with free shipping.

Now here’s where I admit something very silly: today’s art is inspired by one of my mismatched cereal bowls. Really they’re rice bowls, but I mostly use them for Cheerios.

Omnomnom Fishies!

I buy a lot of my dishes in Japantown and this is no exception. Maybe one of these days I’ll do a giant picspam on a Weds of a bunch of them. There’s kitties!

Below, you can see the sparkly salt and glittery pen next to the totally unconcerned fishies. The color’s a bit off, because this is the paper my camera likes to think is secretly red (hint: it’s not).

Implied Goldfish, detail, by Amy Crook

And finally we have the usual framed art, a peaceful little pond to sit on your desk or tuck into a tiny bit of wall space.

Implied Goldfish, framed art by Amy Crook, $399

Tags: blue, fish, for sale, glitter gel pen, orange, salt, watercolor
Posted in Daily Art, Sea Creatures, Shop - Sea Creatures and Other Animals | No Comments »

Tentacle Deeps 29

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

Tentacle Deeps 29, watercolor by Amy Crook, $222

Unlike last week’s tentacles, these, you can have if you want to. Yes, Tuesday is upon us once again and this time I used the opaque Japanese watercolors on black paper to create a wonderful bright green background with an intriguing squamous texture. I used black paint to put in the tentacles, letting it re-wet the green and mix in, giving the whole thing a monochromatic, layered feeling. I’ve been trying to get back to doing the fading layers of tentacles, dark at first with lighter and more transparent ones fading off into the distance, though I do love some of the ones I’ve done with a single layer, as well. Basically, I just like tentacles. I know, you’re shocked.

I’ve been flipping through some of the last year or so’s worth of art, and it’s interesting to see how the tentacles started out in one specific style and then evolved into something else. Revisiting those older pieces, I’ve been revisiting some of the original ideas, like having the wash only take up a portion of the page instead of running edge to edge.

Tentacle Deeps 29, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.

Tentacle Deeps 29, detail, by Amy Crook

Above is your usual close-up of the reaching tentacles. Maybe one of these days I’ll take a photo of them reaching toward the camera, instead, just for variety. Below is the usual picture in the usual frame. Who ever thought there’d be “the usual tentacles” in your life?

Tentacle Deeps 29, framed art by Amy Crook, $222

Tags: black paper, for sale, green, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Tentacles | No Comments »

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 by Amy Crook

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?