Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Blood Moon 5
Tuesday, May 6th, 2014
Blood Moon 5 by Amy Crook
Another Blood Moon made its way into my work queue this month, this time by adding some very subtle tentacles to an older painting in lieu of the previous image. This one is much more eerie than the last one, the bloody color leeching from the shadow to the white parts of the moon, and a second, smaller moon waiting off to one side, ruddy and strange. This sky is not our sky, or perhaps it is our sky many millennia hence, when the stars have become right and Great Cthulhu will rise up from R’lyeh to reclaim the planet for himself.
Blood Moon 5, 5″x7″ Japanese watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Blood Moon 5, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can more clearly see the subtle mist and dark black tentacles rising up from the bottom of the painting, reaching toward the bloody moons. Below, the piece rests in a frame, a little window to some awful future*, or perhaps somewhere very far away indeed.
Blood Moon 5, framed art by Amy Crook
*Perhaps it’s Thundarr the Barbarian’s future, instead of Cthulhu’s. I always did like Ookla.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Tentacles
Tags: black paper, blood moon, for sale, japanese watercolor, moon, more cowbell, tentacles, watercolor
Blue Violet
Monday, May 5th, 2014
Blue Violet, abstract art by Amy Crook
Beautiful, richly layered color and shine make this painting live up to its name. There’s really only 2 colors each of normal watercolor, shiny watercolor, and glitter gel pen, but their interactions create an amazing level of fractal detail and variety of shades from blue to violet.
This painting would bring a gorgeous pop of color to an otherwise drab office or wall.
Blue Violet, 8″x8″ watercolor, iridescent watercolor, and glitter gel pen on Fluid watercolor paper.
Blue Violet, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a hint of the glitter pen hiding in the paint, blue lines and purple spirals floating atop the color. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, bright and beautiful against the black.
Blue Violet, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: blue, duochrome, glitter gel pen, iridescent, nfs, purple, sold, violet, watercolor
Blood Moon 4
Sunday, May 4th, 2014
Blood Moon 4 by Amy Crook
May the Fourth be with you! I chose a swirly, spiraled abstraction of a real-life space phenomenon today to go with the long time ago and far, far away that today brings to mind.
It’s a bright, warm afternoon when I’m writing this, and the cold hour standing outside when I saw the Blood Moon eclipse does seem rather long ago and far away. I spent almost an hour staring up at the sky, eyes fixed on the sliver of moon above through the haze of clouds that waxed and waned. I could only see Spica and Mars of all the bright objects, because I’m in the middle of a city in the middle of a lot of other cities, but I could see enough to be worth the chilled feet.
Blood Moon 4, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor, duochrome watercolor, and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Blood Moon 4, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the bright red and gold glitter shining atop the much more muted red-brown and white eclipsed moon. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with its shining mist.
Blood Moon 4, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, blood moon, duochrome, for sale, glitter gel pen, iridescent, iridescent watercolor, japanese watercolor, moon, watercolor
Splash 2
Tuesday, April 8th, 2014
Splash 2, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
You may be wondering what happened to the first Splash, and the answer to that is that the artist didn’t take off the masking tape in time, oops. Still, I really love this second version — it’s got a lot of delightfully layered texture reminiscent of waves breaking over and over, plus if you turn it on its side you can kind of see Godzilla.
I was playing with implied boundaries here, and also testing the color gamut on my printer — I’m sad to say that this doesn’t reprint well at all, because the delicate shadings of blue and turquoise turn to cyan mush.
Splash 2, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Splash 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up that shows the layers of color and texture that give this work its depth and beauty. Below, you can see it in a frame, brightly lit by the spring sunshine.
Splash 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: blue, for sale, godzilla, splash, turquoise, watercolor
Quilted
Monday, April 7th, 2014
Quilted, abstract art by Amy Crook
This piece started out life as a test for my new Zebra brush pens (in three sizes, woo!), something to doodle while I was on a conference call. I liked the progression of patterns so much I pulled out my travel kit of watercolors and played around long after the call was over, giving each section its own distinct color and texture, but letting them blend a little where they bordered each other.
It reminds me of a quilt, with the bright patterned sections that don’t match, but somehow go together. Thus, the name!
Quilted, 8″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Quilted, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the middle section, the two shades of red in a big swath bordered by orange fading to white on one side, and white fading to blue on the other. Below, I’ve temporarily put it in a frame — for these little odd-sized pieces, I think it looks nice to put it on a mat with transparent photo corners in a slightly larger frame.
Quilted, framed art by Amy Crook
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Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: doodles, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor
Yearning
Friday, April 4th, 2014
Yearning, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Yearning might actually be my favorite piece out of April’s Floating Gallery. Everything about it is subtle, delicate, and incredibly hard to convey with photos and pixels, but I love it anyway. There’s just something about the two shapes and the way they strain to cross the void, sending out waves of yearning like a corona surrounding the core.
What are you longing for, in your silent, secret heart?
Yearning, 10″x8″ duochrome watercolor on watercolor paper.
Yearning, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the upper left corner, turned to catch the sunlight and reveal the hidden treasures of color and light in its depths. Below, we have the lower right, cooler and more congruent but still sending those secret tendrils outward.
Yearning, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally, the piece in a frame, showing off the depth of texture in the paper, and hanging out with my iPhone for size comparison.
Yearning, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, iridescent, splash, watercolor
Telltale Heart
Thursday, April 3rd, 2014
Telltale Heart by Amy Crook
This painting is awfully bright and whimsical to be a reference to Poe’s famous short story, but the name somehow fit anyway with the way the heart is just barely defined by a few telltale strokes of the brush.
I really like the non-rainbow progression of colors, and the rich textures trapped in the transition. I imagine this piece brightening up someone’s work space, providing inspiration and a grounding in kindness.
Telltale Heart, 8″x8″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Telltale Heart, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a bit of the texture on the painting, a mix of granulation, brush strokes, and subtle color shifts. Below, you can see it in a frame, just waiting to go to its new home.
Telltale Heart, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, heart, watercolor
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