Frost Ghosts
Posted on June 5th, 2014
Frost Ghosts, watercolor by Amy Crook
This painting, too, is hard to convey online. There’s no shiny paint or other special effects, but the way the paint seems to have depth is somewhat lost, and the subtle shadings and chilly colors get warmed and muddied.
I let the paint on this one mostly do its own thing with only a little direction from me to tease out the handprints on the right and the strange, creepy face in the upper left. The frostlike bloom of lighter paint happens when the dark purple and pale, opaque periwinkle interact in a pool of color, and are allowed to dry as they will.
The ghosts put their mark on this painting just for you.
Frost Ghosts, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Frost Ghosts, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see one of the handprints that bloomed above the surface of the dark paper and darker paint like frost traced on a window at night by a ghostly hand. Below, the painting sits in a frame in the incongruous sunshine, showing off more of its depths.
Frost Ghosts, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: black paper, for sale, japanese watercolor, periwinkle, spooky
Verdigris
Posted on June 4th, 2014
Verdigris, abstract art by Amy Crook
This is a month of paintings that don’t quite show online the same as they do in person. In this case, the deep teal of the swirls is out of gamut for my monitor, so it gets blued out strangely. I think the swirling spirals remind me of a wrought-iron fence with some sort of strange verdigris growing on it, turning it first a strange dark green and then lighter with age as the change deepened. There’s bright oranges and golds behind the screen of greens, which one person told me looked like sunshine chasing away the stormclouds. Either way, it’s a bright, colorful painting full of strange little details to spark the imagination.
Verdigris, 8″x4″ salt, watercolor, and Japanese watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Verdigris, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can almost see the real color of the spirals imposed on a bit of false color in the background, which has grown far too green on the right in an attempt to get the spirals to behave. Tehre’s even a little hint of some of the sneaky salt circles hiding in the painting. Below, you can see the painting in a temporary frame, with the closest to true color of all three images, I think.
Verdigris, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: japanese watercolor, more cowbell, nfs, salt, sold, watercolor
Wood Elf
Posted on June 3rd, 2014
Wood Elf, watercolor by Amy Crook
This painting used to be a different painting, but I honestly never really liked that other painting, whereas this one has a great, fierce simplicity to it that I really enjoy. I found the face in the hair rather than the other way around, tight-lipped and androgynous and full of determination. I don’t really know if it’s a wood elf or some other creature of myth or fiction, but I love the auburn hair and muted green of the one eye you can see.
Wood Elf, 4″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Wood Elf, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the one fierce eye glaring green out of the red-brown hair, eyebrow an expressive slash of darker brown. Below, I’ve put the piece in a temporary frame while it waits patiently for you to take it home and discover its mysteries for yourself.
Wood Elf, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: more cowbell, nfs, sold, watercolor
Three Crows
Posted on June 2nd, 2014
Three Crows, watercolor by Amy Crook
Good things come in threes. One crow flapping, one crow diving, and the middle one gliding away on an updraft to avoid the swirling cloud. The sky has bright blue arching down and sunny yellow shining upward, but it’s the spiralling clouds in metallic silver that really make it beautiful. The silver paint shows up grey at some angles, shining white at others, and sometimes it blends right into the background so well it nearly vanishes.
Three Crows, 7″x5″ watercolor and metallic watercolor on paper.
Three Crows, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, a close-up of shimmering clouds and two of the three crows. I’m especially fond of the shape of the upper right cloud. Below, the piece in a frame, with my iPhone for scale.
Three Crows, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, metallic watercolor, nfs, sold, spirals, three crows, watercolor
Gestate, Uncurl, Blossom
Posted on May 22nd, 2014
Gestate, Uncurl, Blossom; a calligraphic triptych by Amy Crook
Three small words and a simple illustration of a plant going from seed to flower in three panels. A metaphor for creating. A reminder of what it takes to get the beauty of a flower.
Gestate. The tiny green curled in the heart of brown seed.
Uncurl. The plant braves the world, straightens up, spreads its leaves wide.
Blossom. The beauty that can’t exist while the plant is still safe in its seed.
Gestate, Uncurl, Blossom, a triptych of watercolor artworks on 4″x6″ Fluid watercolor paper.
Gestate, Uncurl, Blossom; three details by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the three tiny watercolor illustrations up close: seed, curled-up sprout, and flower. Below, the trio in frames, lit by warm spring sunshine.
Gestate, Uncurl, Blossom; framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Words Words Words
Tags: calligraphy, for sale, triptych, watercolor
2 Comments »
True Story
Posted on May 20th, 2014
True Story, calligraphic art by Amy Crook
A small reminder of the other sides to everything:
Just because a Story is true, that doesn’t make it the Whole Story
We spend a lot of time telling ourselves our stories, whether it’s that time your favorite thing got discontinued because nobody likes what you like, or the time you couldn’t even make your cable box work because you’re no good at technology, or the time you missed a car payment because you’re terrible with money.
A single story becomes the whole story, especially in the negative. We tell ourselves the story and call it the truth, instead of remembering the 37 car payments you did make, the favorite products that have been on the shelves since childhood, or the tech you take for granted every day.
True Story, 6″x4″ pen & ink and glitter gel pen on Fluid watercolor paper.
True Story, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the light shining off the glittery color, highlighting a few important words. Below, the piece waits in a frame to grace someone’s home or workspace, accompanied by a little matching bookmark.
True Story, framed art by Amy Crook
This piece was in last month’s Floating Gallery — if you’d like to get the inside scoop on my art, join my list.
Categories: Floating Gallery, Words Words Words
Tags: calligraphy, glitter gel pen, nfs, pen and ink, sold
Short Friend
Posted on May 15th, 2014
Short Friend, a Sherlock parody comic by Amy Crook
Sherlock apparently underestimates John’s height and level of jaundice in this silly little Despicable Me crossover. He tells the audience, “I took the precaution of a long* coat and a short friend,” while gesturing to the wrong short friend. Poor John!
Well, perhaps Sherlock will remember this next time he wants some tea and John pretends he can’t hear him.
Short Friend, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper. Available as a blank card on Etsy, of course.
Short Friend, a Sherlock/Despicable Me card on Etsy by Amy Crook
* I know, I know, the quote is “good coat” but c’mon, this is cuter.
Categories: Card Design, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: copic marker, despicable me, etsy, john watson, minion, minions, nfs, pen and ink, sherlock, sherlock bbc, sherlock holmes, sold
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
