Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Boundaries
Friday, March 4th, 2016
Boundaries, 6″x6″ brush & ink and ink wash on Fluid watercolor paper
Rich inks mix and layer, creating boundaries of color between them, washing away the old ones, limned with lines painted anew. Gold and green shimmer in the depths, adding extra depth and brilliance to this beautiful abstract.
Edges meander like rivers and coastlines, sometimes delineating and sometimes failing to encompass the shifting pools of color.
Boundaries, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the beautiful shimmer of gold particles in the ink, the black boundaries where two colors meet and mix, and white both over and under the teal Emerald of Chivor. Below, the piece is elegantly framed in simple back, which lets the rich colors really pop.
Boundaries, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: for sale, ink wash, j herbin
Blacks Don’t Match
Sunday, February 7th, 2016
Blacks Don’t Match, 10″x8″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper
Two lovely, granulating off-blacks float on top of a sea of colour, red and gold, turquoise and lavender, and just a bit of secret shine that comes through at just the right angle.
The textures in this abstract are reminiscent of an oil painting, the rough scrape of palette knife and layered color hinting at what lies beneath.
In the upper left, cool colours are hidden beneath a ruddy black, the texture flirting around the idea of a pattern both above and below. The lower right has a different texture, a fiery orange peeking through a blue-black like branches, ruffles, shingles.
What do you see?
Blacks Don’t Match, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can really see the shining spirals masked beneath the black. Below, there’s a third shade of black in the frame, showing off this lovely larger piece.
Blacks Don’t Match, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, iridescent, primatek, watercolor
Purple Pathways
Thursday, February 4th, 2016
Purple Pathways, 6″x4″ duochrome watercolor and interference watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Silvery blue becomes iridescent lavender, a trick of the light, a visual mirage. The black is an endless sky behind it, a void, a road not taken as the paint makes its own pathways and claims its space with sparkle and color.
It’s always hard to capture the qualities of metallic and duochrome paints with a still photo, but you can see two of the angles and imagine the rest, the changes that happen in daylight or lamplight, at this vantage or that.
It would fit perfectly on a desk or a bit of wall that you pass often, somewhere where it can catch the light, and your eye, and bring a smile to your face and some beauty to your day.
Purple Pathways, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sunlight picking out a plethora of glittery colors against the velvety black paper. Below, the piece is in a frame, showcasing its small size.
Purple Pathways, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, duochrome, for sale, interference, pathways, watercolor
Jack Frost
Friday, January 8th, 2016
Jack Frost, 10″x8″ watercolor and interference watercolor on Arches cover black paper
Most of the paint on this lovely black paper is white, but mixed in there’s just a little bit of interference blue. When it’s in normal light, the blue just looks white like the rest, but in sunlight or strong indoor light it adds a sparkle to this piece that makes it really magical.
Just like winter, it’s something lovely and stark that holds hidden depths of color and light.
And with the weather we’ve got out here in SF, Jack Frost might even pay me a visit this year — brr!
Jack Frost, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a little bit of the sparkle peeking out of the chilly frost. Below, you can see the painting in a temporary frame, like a window on a cold winter’s night.
Jack frost, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, interference, nfs, pathways, sold, watercolor
Distance 2
Friday, December 4th, 2015
Distance 2 by Amy Crook
Misty hills ascend into the distance, where a single gold light shines out of a structure atop the farthest reaches.
The night descends in beautiful teal, just a few stars starting to peek out through the twilight.
What draws your imagination out wandering?
Distance 2, 4″x6″ ink wash on watercolor paper.
Distance 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the detailed texture of ink and paper, and the tiny pinpoint of golden light beckoning you to the summit. Below, the piece is in a frame like the view out of a tall window, waiting to bring some peace to your hectic desk.
Distance, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: distance, for sale, ink wash, j herbin, teal
Morpheus
Thursday, October 8th, 2015
Morpheus by Amy Crook
This is the Morpheus that knew Nada in the time before, that loved and wronged her and sent her to Hell for refusing him. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you clearly need to get to a comic shop or library and start reading The Sandman.
This didn’t start out as a Sandman piece, but the face was hiding among the abstract shapes like a dream that only needs a little prodding to take proper shape in your mind. Minimal alteration brought out the eye and added in the glimmer, highlighted the nose and crying mouth, the sharp jaw, and the delicate curl of an ear. The mad curls and shocked expression were there already, just waiting to be found.
Morpheus, 10″x8″ watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover white paper, $349.
Morpheus, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the beautiful, organic shapes hiding in the larger face of the painting. Below, Morpheus is trapped in his frame, waiting to be freed.
Morpheus, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: duochrome, for sale, sandman, watercolor
Peninsula
Tuesday, October 6th, 2015
Peninsula by Amy Crook
The penultimate piece in this month’s Gallery is another in my Map series. The delicate changes from paper to watercolor become stark with black ink outlining each little eddy and fjord.
Although the paint is entirely non-shiny in this one, the nature of the sharp lines makes the land mass appear limned in a pale blue light. The granulating paint has settled into mountain ridges and smaller hills, forests and plains, creating a topography that exists only between the imagination and the page.
Where will this map take you?
Peninsula, 5″x7″ pen & ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
Peninsula, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the exquisite detail created by the texture of paper and paint, and the fine lines of pen and ink creating borders around each little shape. Below, the map sits in a frame, awaiting a new adventurer.
Peninsula, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, green, map, pen and ink, watercolor
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