Traverse
Posted on February 7th, 2014
Traverse, watercolor by Amy Crook
For such a small painting there is a sense of vast space and infinite possibility in this little slice of time. The moment it captures feels like a cusp, a step into some unknown future. It’s a visual reminder to take risks, step out, to choose a direction and see what lies over the next bit of horizon.
Traverse, 6″x4″ watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Traverse, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the figure, her details washed away by the brightness she’s facing into. Below, you can see the painting in a frame, with the figure reflected in the shiny surface of my phone.
Traverse, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: nfs, sold, watercolor
Island
Posted on February 6th, 2014
Island, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
I think paintings are hardest to talk about when I really adore them. This one is such an exquisite combination of tiny details and subtle colors created both by deliberate artistic choice and by random chance that I’m ridiculously in love with it.
The paper is soft, both in texture and its creamy color, and the paints are all matte shades of real minerals, except for the places where there’s unexpected bursts of red or even sun-catching bits of green iridescence. The shape suggests an island without being any specific one, with its noodling coastlines and the surf creeping up all around it. The green is rich and deep and mysterious, inviting the viewer to look for hidden detail.
Island, 10″x8″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Island, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a very close look at some of the detail, in an area with a subtle wash of red hiding under the green, and a tiny patch of shimmering brightness that only shows itself in sunlight, like a lake hidden in deep jungles. Below, the painting’s in a frame, looking even more like some forgotten map.
Island, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: blue, duochrome, for sale, green, map, watercolor
Backbone
Posted on February 5th, 2014
Backbone, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Back in November, the same painting session that gave me the beginnings of both Exit Strategy and The Colour Out of Space produced the background for this. I did some more with the background before letting it sit for two months, and finally a few weeks ago I figured out what I wanted to do with it.
I actually used thinned-out titanium white paint in a fountain pen to draw these little shapes rather than painting them, a technique I practiced first on a couple of this month’s bookmarks.
The sinuous lines of vertebrae don’t quite follow the soft shapes they wind through, but they are informed by them. It’s hard to tell if this is one very long creature or several; if they’re suspended in water or mist or even fossilized; if they’re from something natural, unnatural, or even supernatural.
Backbone, 6″x4″ watercolor and Japanese watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Backbone, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see an extremely close look at a dozen of the many vertebrae twining through the painting. Below, the painting is tucked in a frame, its mysteries safely contained.
Backbone, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bones, for sale, japanese watercolor, pen and paint, skeleton, watercolor
Deadly Nightshade
Posted on February 4th, 2014
Deadly Nightshade, watercolor by Amy Crook
With a cat named Belladonna, it was inevitable that I’d eventually decide to paint her namesake plant.
The leaves are bright green and vibrant, while the berries have their own subtle inner glow of poisonous red-black. White gel pen gives three names for the plant, floating ghostly on the matte watercolor background. The blue-black night holds subtle textures, overlapping the plant in some spots and leaving white gaps in others, and you can see the soft pencil sketch beneath the art in places, giving the piece a loose, painterly feel.
Deadly Nightshade, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper.
Deadly Nightshade, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of one unripe berry and two blooming flowers, along with the word “Belladonna” crawling along the leaves. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with the sunlight bringing out the blue in the background.
Deadly Nightshade, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: for sale, japanese watercolor, watercolor
Butterfly
Posted on February 3rd, 2014
Butterfly, watercolor by Amy Crook
Pink! Bright colors! Happy little hearts! What is the world coming to?
I was working on something on the other side of this that was just not going well, and when I flipped the paper over there was this Rorschach-like butterfly just waiting for me in the white space. I decided to let go of perfectionism and use a peacock feather and bold, painterly lines to flesh out the whimsical butterfly.
Bright, bold, and flying free. Isn’t that a lovely thing to aspire to?
Butterfly, 7″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Butterfly, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the whimsical details, from the textured background to the bold spirals and delightful little heart. Below, you can see the butterfly flying in a frame, as though you’re looking through a window out onto a field of brilliant flowers.
Butterfly, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, watercolor
Descent
Posted on February 2nd, 2014
Descent, abstract art by Amy Crook
A violet night sky is peppered with the texture of stars. Shimmering halos surround these rocky meteors as they descend through that peaceful sky, trailing glittering fire behind them. There’s red and green and lavender and some hints of blue and brown and gold. The sunlight changes everything, and a closer look shows shining crystals jutting up off the page, intruding into the third dimension.
This painting took a lot of fits and starts and several different forms before I was happy with this final work. All of the pieces work in harmony to tell a visual story, instead of fighting to find meaning between them.
Descent, 7″x5″ salt, watercolor, and duochrome watercolor on paper.
Descent, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of some of the meteors, see the rich red and shimmery green, and the lavender halos lighting up against the violet sky. Below, you can see the painting all tucked into a frame, protected from the elements and ready to grace your wall, desk, or shelf.
Descent, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, more cowbell, purple, salt, violet, watercolor
Felicitations
Posted on January 23rd, 2014
Felicitations, a Star Trek parody comic
by Amy Crook for Tara Swiger
This commission was so fun! Tara Swiger came to me wanting a Trekkie birthday card with a Tara sort of twist, and we passed ideas back and forth via email until this finally gelled.
Spock’s holding a gift in what I think of as Tara colors, though really her pink is usually even brighter, and Picard’s got his usual “make it so” hand gesture going on. It was kind of fun mixing eras, too (though technically Spock did show up on Next Generation, he wasn’t in his TOS uniform). A little logic, a little illogic, and a lot of fangirl glee went into the image!
After Tara got her original in the mail, she sent me this fun little quote to share with you:
Hoorah! I just got my custom illustration in the mail (Amy sent the ORIGINAL! So fancy!) and it is so perfect!
I requested a customer birthday card, something funny + sweet to send Captains on their birthday. Amy helped me come up with the perfect idea, because I was a bit foggy about what I wanted.
I love that she got the geekery and she’s clever enough to make it funny.Amy’s super-easy to work with (this is my second custom order!) and I’ve been nervous (I have NO idea what’s involved), but she makes it easy!
If you’d like an illustration of your very own, just email me to get started!
Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: all rights reserved, birthday, commission, copic marker, nfs, pen and ink, picard, spock, star trek, tara swiger
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