Posts Tagged ‘red’
More Art This Way »
Tentacle Deeps 27
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 27 by Amy Crook, $222
We have ghostly tentacles writhing against a textured wash of sunset red, orange and gold for our Tentacle Tuesday. I really love all the texture and detail on this one, so I made a wallpaper to share. I make these sort of huge and not particularly specific on the size so that you can just tell your computer to fill the screen and it won’t matter if some of one edge or another gets cropped. I also make the tentacles go left to right because that’s what works for me on my screen, I almost always have certain windows open so I mostly see a few little stripes of background at the left and right edges.
I really like the way the textured paper here created amazing edges on the wash, and then on top of that I used salt in the more traditional manner to create the almost flamelike blossoms of paint in the background. I was so in love with it, I decided to paint the tentacles in washed-out, transparent black to let the background really show through. The smaller, fainter tentacles give it a sense of looking out over a field of them, almost like seaweed rising up from the ocean bottom.
Tentacle Deeps 27, 5.25″x7″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.
This isn’t quite small enough for a standard frame, and I haven’t yet matted it properly into a larger one for photography, but I suspect you’ve seen enough framed tentacles by now to know the drill. Instead, enjoy the spooky bottom-up detail shot.
Tentacle Deeps 27, detail, by Amy Crook
If you’d like to talk to me about tentacles, art, or payment plans for either, just email me!
Tags: orange, red, salt, sunset, 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 »
Red-Violet Spirals
Monday, February 20th, 2012
Red-Violet Spirals, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
I’m going to mix up the schedule this week a little, I have three related pieces (this is the first) that I’ll post Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and then there’s Tentacles for Tuesday of course, and more tentacles in the form of a Weeble Squid for Thursday. In addition, on Friday I’ll post a special button to buy all three pieces framed and ready to display.
I have several sheets of this velvety black paper from days gone by, and I’ve torn it down into smaller pieces that I pull out sometimes when I’m not sure what I want to work on. I was wanting to do something immediate, which meant no salt, and so I got out my big palette of Japanese watercolors (yay birthday presents) and got all the pans wet. I took out three sheets of the black paper and layered spirals on each in a color family, experimenting with light and dark, overlapping and not. I think this was actually the third one finished, but I can’t quite remember.
I decided on the spirals because I love spirals. I have no idea why, I just do, and one of my things I wanted to do this year was paint more spirals on things. This one ended up looking almost like a Valentine, actually, with just a hint of a heart in the final arrangement of shapes.
Red-Violet Spirals, 5″x5″ watercolor on paper, $222 with free shipping.
My scanner did not like this series, and so you can get a better idea of the actual color in the photo below.
Spirals Trio, three watercolor abstracts by Amy Crook
Tags: black paper, burgundy, for sale, japanese watercolor, pink, red, spirals, spirals trio, triptych
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | 1 Comment »
Tentacle Bookmark 1
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012
Tentacle Bookmark 1
by Amy Crook
I couldn’t neglect Tentacle Tuesday for Valentine’s Day, now could I? After all, it is a nice lovely red.
After I finished this one, I texted a photo to a friend who immediately replied, “Are you giving me the tentacle?”
I drew this in pen and ink on a thick, textured watercolor paper that’s a nice warm white base for the tentacle and its background.
Tentacle Bookmark 1, 1″x7.625″ pen and ink on paper, nfs (sold).
Tentacle Bookmark 1, with book, by Amy Crook
Above you can see this bookmark’s quite a bit longer than yesterday’s, but will still nestle nicely in a hardcover book. May I suggest a volume of Lovecraft?
Tentacle Bookmark, detail, by Amy Crook
The usual obligatory tentacle shot, which is tamer than it sounds. Don’t forget to visit all the bookmarks from this week.
Tags: bookmark, nfs, orange, pen and ink, red, sold, tentacles
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Tentacles | No Comments »
Mood Ring
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Mood Ring, abstract watercolor painting by Amy Crook, $323
More experiments with the awesome black paper this week. This paper is actually colored by a chemical reaction in the paper pulp when they manufacture it, so the velvety black color is completely lightfast. Possibly more so than the paint and inks I use, actually.
The deep purple paint nearly disappears into the paper, but the opaque red pulls it into visibility, and both colors dye the salt here and there. I think I did tint this salt with ink as well, but I’m having a hard time remembering. The end result had a very ’70s feel to it to me, hence the title. Yeah, I said hence.
Mood Ring, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper, $323 framed, with free shipping.
Something about the middle ring in the group of 3 catches the light much more than the other rings, which you can see in the detail below.
Mood Ring, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Below you can see the purple and red paint bleeding into the salt in the circles down in the lower right. I also made an iPhone wallpaper of the three central circles, and am sneaking it in here for those who read all the words.
Mood Ring, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And this one actually does fit into a frame, so you can see it next to my iPhone (for scale only, sorry) below.
Mood Ring, framed art by Amy Crook, $323
Tags: black, for sale, purple, red, salt, watercolor
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »
Red Orange Yellow
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Red Orange Yellow by Amy Crook, $199
Another experiment with salt and watercolor, this time the salt picked up just a touch of the colour, turning the salt crystals a sort of transparent pale red that manages not to be very pink at all. I stuck to the warm, sunny end of the spectrum, with swooping zen circles of gold, complementary swishes of orange and just little hints of red creeping back in and blending into the orange at the edges.
I’ll frame it in an 8″x10″ frame with a mat, but right now I’m busy with a big website launch for a client (I can’t wait to show you the header painting!), so anything that needs matting is on the back burner — unless it sells, of course!
Red Orange Yellow, 4″x8″ watercolor and salt on paper, $199 framed, with free shipping.
Cold winter sunlight casts the paper in blue, but the warmth of the paint can’t be dampened in this detail photo.You can really see how the salt is tinged with red from this angle, too.
Red Orange Yellow, detail, by Amy Crook
If you think you’d like to brighten up your home or office with this piece but you’ve got questions, or if you’d just like to chat but don’t want to comment, feel free to drop me a line!
Tags: for sale, orange, red, salt, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »
Tentacle Deeps 22
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
Tentacle Deeps 22 by Amy Crook, $222
Some cheerful Christmas red tentacles for the Tuesday before! Well, all right, the shade’s a bit more bloody than Santa usually likes, but I’m not going to be the one to tell Cthulhu that.
I went with a very simple, stylized pattern on the tentacles this time, which makes them look a bit like monster fingers, creepy scratch marks, or perhaps long, wavy hair. The surface of the tentacles is subtly textured from the granulating Lunar Black watercolor, too, and it’s even more obvious in person.
Tentacle Deeps 22, 4″x8″ watercolor on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.
Tags: for sale, red, 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 »
Zen Red Bird
Thursday, December 15th, 2011
Zen Red Bird by Amy Crook, $89
I was enjoying the pure, rich red pigment of one of my red Japanese watercolors, and I decided to paint something simple and zen. I added in just a touch of black for the bright eye and dark beak to create a seasonal red bird, but I think the essence of the image is in that first red swoosh down the bird’s back. It makes a good reminder to keep it simple this holiday season, and not go flying right out of the frame trying to do too much.
Zen Red Bird, 6″x6″ watercolor on paper, $89 with free shipping.
Tags: for sale, red, watercolor, zen
Posted in Daily Art, Shop - Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Shop - Whimsical and Strange, Whimsical and Strange | 2 Comments »
More Art This Way »
