Posts Tagged ‘yellow’
More Art This Way »
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 »
Golden Moon
Monday, February 27th, 2012
Golden Moon, watercolor and salt painting by Amy Crook, $442
Two of my favorite pieces at the Endgame show have been bought, so I took this one and Violet Midnight 2 over there to replace the sold pieces on the wall. Then I realized I’m so far behind in posting that I hadn’t even shown it to you guys here on the site, oops.
I used a gorgeous golden yellow paint to make these spirals, and then added the salt while they were still wet. You can really see how the salt around the “stars” is yellower than the white aura I added to the moon later, sans paint. I like this one because it makes me think of moonrise, of looking up into the sky with the low, yellow moon hanging just off to one side of your vision, rather than taking over the whole show.
It’s bigger than my usual, too, 10″x8″ instead of the smaller size, which gives room for the smaller, saltless star-spirals that I put into the background. The piece is really simple but it’s got a lot of depth for me because it took several sessions to paint all the details, and spent at least two days just growing salt crystals. Each of these salt pieces is part art and part experiment for me, so when I’m working on them I tend to think a lot about the technical aspects and let the aesthetics work themselves out almost meditatively in the spacing, size and color choices.
Golden Moon, 10″x8″ salt and watercolor on black paper, $442 framed, with free shipping.
Golden Moon, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can really see how much whiter the salt is without the paint adulterating it. I love the way this shot came out enough I even made you guys a wallpaper of it. And by you I mean me, of course. Below, I’ve zoomed in on just one pair of stars, so you can see how sparkly and three-dimensional they really are. I actually find it pretty funny that I’ve started making a lot of art that shimmers, glitters and sparkles, since in my real life I’m the least-sparkly person you’ll meet with my unchanging jewelry and boring black t-shirts.
Golden Moon, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally, you can see it in a frame! The shot’s a little dark, but that’s because black paper behind glass is basically a mirror, also known as a huge pain in my butt to photograph.
Golden Moon, framed art by Amy Crook, $442
If you’d like to talk to me about this piece, you can comment below, or email me and I’m always happy to chat about art, payment plans, or whatever else comes to mind.
Tags: black paper, for sale, moon, salt, spirals, stars, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Free Wallpapers, Series and Books, Shop - Flowers, Trees and Landscapes | 1 Comment »
Tentacle Deeps 25
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
Tentacle Deeps 25, watercolor painting by Amy Crook, $222
Tentacle Tuesday is upon us once again! I decided to go old school with this next set and paint the wash in the middle of the paper, which gives a very interesting edge to work with. This wash started golden yellow at the bottom and faded up to lemony yellow, but I wanted to give it a bit more oomph, so I went in with a deep goldenrod fine-point Sharpie marker and drew tiny crosshatching in all the background areas. The marker nearly fades into the watercolor down near the base of the tentacles, but you can see the texture clearly in the upper areas.
There’s something soothing about doing these really tedious patterns sometimes, especially since I can do a tiny area for just a minute or two and then do something else (mmmminternets), and then go back to it, which cuts up the process into manageable bites. Otherwise, my wrists might never forgive me!
Tentacle Deeps 25, 5.25″x5″ watercolor and Sharpie marker on paper, $222 framed, with free shipping.
Since this one’s slightly larger than a standard frame I didn’t get a photo of it in its new home yet, but you can see the texture of paper, paint and marker in the cool depth-of-field photo that I can’t resist taking every single time.
Tentacle Deeps 25, detail, by Amy Crook, $222
Tags: for sale, hufflepuff, sharpie marker, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Shop - Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Tentacles, Things I'm a Fan Of | No Comments »
Brown Curls
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Brown Curls by Amy Crook, $199
Today’s piece uses the pink Himalayan sea salt on a wash of golden yellow. Then I made little curls around each salt pool in two shades of brown, which reminded me a bit of tumbling locks of curling brown hair in the sunshine, with gems or perhaps droplets of water caught in them.
Brown Curls, 4″x8″ salt and watercolor on paper, $199 framed, with free shipping.
Brown Curls, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the way the minerals in the pink salt settle out and add their own pigment to the painting, as well as getting a sense of the subtle sparkle the salt adds to the painting. I ship the salt paintings safely framed so that the three-dimensional crystal structures arrive in place and ready to display.
Tags: brown, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird | No Comments »
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
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, 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 »
By Starlight
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
By Starlight by Amy Crook, $499
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″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper, $499, framed, with free shipping.
This piece is just a bit wider than square, so I’ll have to matte and frame it in a larger 8″x8″ frame when it ships.
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.
By Starlight, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper, $499, framed, with free shipping.
If you’re interested in this piece and would like to talk, you can comment here or email me, my inbox is always open.
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, stars, watercolor, yellow
Posted in Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Shop - Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Things I'm a Fan Of | No Comments »
More Art This Way »
