Posts Tagged ‘handmade paper’

Mistwood

Thursday, June 4th, 2015

Mistwood by Amy Crook

Mistwood by Amy Crook

This beautiful sheet of Twinrocker Handmade Simon’s Green paper is about 22 years old — I acquired it many years ago when I had a model named Simon, and never found the right use for it. I pulled it out specifically thinking it make an intriguing addition to my Pathways series, and I’m quite pleased with the result.

Strong green spikes rise upward, spreading out into leaves and branches, spreading further into mist and obscurity. Hints of earthy ochre lurk in the depths where surprising blues emerge through the fog. The tops of the trees disappear off the natural deckle edge of the paper, and the whole forest is bowed ever so slightly in some unseen wind.

Mistwood, 24″x18″ watercolor on Twinrocker handmade paper.

Mistwood, detail, by Amy Crook

Mistwood, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see one of the areas of “mist” where the greens break up and fade out in soft layers of color. Below, you can see the dark “trees” with their rich, strong forest colors still intact.

Mistwood, detail, by Amy Crook

Mistwood, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: , , , , ,


What You See

Monday, August 9th, 2010

What You See by Amy Crook

What You See by Amy Crook

This etching plate was cut from a larger “found” plate. When I found the abandoned piece, this particular image jumped out at me, so when I cut the plate into smaller pieces, I saved this one out. It’s printed onto a piece of handmade paper with little strands of human hair (a lock cut from a classmate, iirc). The paper has gorgeous natural edges, and would look great floated on a black matte and framed, though right now it’s just loose.

I feel like it would be giving something away to tell you what I see when I look at the piece, instead of letting you find your own images. I will say that there’s an element of anima, of the manitou, in it for me. What do you see?

What You See, detail, by Amy Crook

What You See, detail, by Amy Crook

What You See, 2″x2″ etching on 6″x9″ handmade paper, $349 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art
Tags: , , ,


Man Dressing

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

Man Dressing 1, detail, by Amy Crook

Man Dressing 1, detail, by Amy Crook

Today’s art is an etching, which means there’s several prints, though I only have 1 of each edition below. All of my prints are hand-pulled the old-fashioned way using a printing press, whether they’re etchings or monoprints, and while I still have some of my old plates I doubt they’re in any shape to be printed from these days.

I’ve always been fascinated with our rigid ideas of gender, and the way that costumes that were considered the height of masculinity in their day (including the ruffles and corset in the image) are considered effete and downright kinky nowadays. This image was drawn with the help of a model, though we didn’t lace him fully into the corset, and uses a painstaking cross-hatched shading style that I vowed never to try again after this image. I’ve gone back to the technique now that I’m older and more patient, but it’s still one of my least-favorite methods due to the time and precision required.

Click below to see all three editions on their full pages. Don’t forget most images you can click on to see a bigger version, too.

(more…)

Categories: Daily Art, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books
Tags: , , , ,