Torporific
Posted on April 12th, 2016
Torporific: tending to cause numbness or inactivity
5″x7″ pen & ink on paper – $45
It’s definitely a house rule among cat owners that you can’t be expected to do any sort of responsible adulting if you’ve got a cat in your lap. They have their very own special gravity that causes inactivity among their chosen humans/bedwarmers.
I drew this live on Persicope; come join me some Wednesday around 2-3pm Pacific. Next week I’ll be doing a Patreon patron’s requested word!
Categories: People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: cat, james bond, pen and ink, q, word art, word art weds
City Lights
Posted on April 8th, 2016
City Lights, 8″x4″ Japanese watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Stormclouds shroud the city in darkness, distance and fog obscuring the buildings farther away. On the close horizon, cheerful yellow blobs of light beckon the viewer to their warm interiors.
Three colors of lovely Japanese Gansai watercolors make up this simple palette, a blue-black, a violet-black, and of course the welcoming yellow which also glows over the skyline in a display of light pollution.
The buildings this time are mostly simple, traditional skyscrapers in different configurations, with a few interesting variations lurking among the lights.
City Lights, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the little glowing blobs of light defining one skyscraper from another. Below, the painting is in a temporary frame, waiting to be packaged up and sent to its forever home.
City Lights, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: city, horizons, japanese watercolor, nfs, sold, watercolor
Tentacle Deeps 49
Posted on April 7th, 2016
Tentacle Deeps 49, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
The Tentacle Deeps rise again!
Someone asked me on Periscope what my favorite thing is to paint, and I immediately answered, “Tentacles,” and was reminded that it’s been ages since I added to this series.
The photos don’t really do it justice, the bright green on top is cheerful and the rich teal blends into it beautifully. The tentacles are in a deep blue-black mix that adds depth, darker layering over lighter as we got closer to the viewer.
Tentacle Deeps 49, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of the tentacles, growing bluer and fainter as they fade into the background. Below, the painting sits in a frame, perfect to be part of a grouping of art, or just to fill that little patch of bare wall. With tentacles.
Tentacle Deeps 49, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Tentacles
Tags: for sale, japanese watercolor, tentacle deeps, tentacles, watercolor
Windblown
Posted on April 6th, 2016
Windblown, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Brilliant oranges, pinks, and golds paint the sky as the red sun sinks below the horizon. A lone figure stands next to the tree, both of them tousled by the unseen winds. A raven heads for them both, graceful despite the headwind.
What’s the story here? You could hang this up in your home and contemplate the possible tales as you go about your day, each glimpse sparking a new line of thought.
Windblown, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of our big black bird, flying headlong into the wind. Below, the whole windblown tableau is waiting in a temporary frame to find its permanent home.
Windblown, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, nfs, orange, sunset, tree, watercolor
Unguiculate
Posted on April 5th, 2016
Unguiculate: a mammal with claws
7″x5″ pen & ink and pencil on paper – $25
The actual taxonomy is anything that has claws or nails as opposed to hooves, but I couldn’t resist the shorter definition or the visual that went with it. Look out! Rawr!
I drew this live on Persicope; come join me some Wednesday around 2-3pm Pacific. Who knows what weird word I’ll choose next.
Categories: Pretty Words, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: pen and ink, pencil, word art, word art weds
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today
Posted on April 4th, 2016
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today,
6″x6″ ink and Primatek watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
As you can see, mineral paints were a theme for this month! Fall in love with granulation all over again, the magical texture you get with certain pigments, watery paint, and rough paper.
A ruined city lurks below the apocalyptic sky, tendrils of smoke rising from the burnt-out buildings. There’s a little black spot on the sun, which glows a sullen red and drips something like light.
(It’s my soul up there.)
I’d apologize for the earworm, but I’m not sorry.
It’s the same old thing as yesterday, really.
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the dripping circle of the red sun and its odd black spot against the beautiful texture of grey-blue sky. Below, this little post-apocalyptic wasteland is tucked into a frame, a gorgeous reminder of a future that never was.
There’s a Little Black Spot on the Sun Today, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: brush and ink, city, horizons, it's my soul up there, nfs, primatek, ruins, sold, the police, watercolor
Storm
Posted on April 3rd, 2016
Storm, 6″x4″ Primatek watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Like stormclouds rising up, or perhaps another view of the sky in my next painting, these earthy mineral paints make a storm I wouldn’t want to be stuck out in. Despite the beautiful bright spot breaking through, there’s something ominous about the colors and the gathering clouds looming in from all sides.
You could stare for hours, picking out the shapes the same way you can in the real sky. Melancholy meditations on the meaning of precipitation, perhaps.
Or just waiting for the rain to come and clear the air.
Storm, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the detail in the lower left, the rich deep bloodstone and swathes of purpurite, with just a hint of Minnesota pipestone all adding earthy, stormy notes to the roiling paint. Below, the piece is in a temporary frame, waiting to go to its new home.
Storm, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: primatek, sold, watercolor
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