Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category

April 2022 Patreon sketches

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

Guess who’s been doing sketches on Patreon for months and not posting them to the blog? It’s me! I’ll be getting the last many months of them out on the blog over the next few weeks, so please enjoy the ridiculousness.

April 2022 ACEO sketches by Amy Crook

April 2022 ACEO sketches by Amy Crook

  • This one wasn’t a prompt, I just wanted to draw trees and birbs on this orange sunset
  • Jeff asked for ‘distracted’
  • Another non-prompt experiment with salt and watercolor on yupo that got some marker topography
  • And ‘rose candy’ for Eric

These have all found a new home, but some of the later ones are still available for the discerning collector. You can also make an account and follow me on Patreon for free, where these are always posted publicly, or Instagram or Twitter, where I post some things as the mood strikes me.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Pretty Words, Whimsical and Strange
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Phosphorescence

Tuesday, June 14th, 2022

Phosphorescence, 12″x24″ mixed media on paper

In the same vein as Time is Escaping, this larger-scale painting uses shimmering, textured paint to create a feeling of water and movement.

The spiral structure suggests a deep whirlpool or concentric waves, with something brightly phosphorescent bursting out, escaping with its darker-hued cousins. Despite the feeling of depth, the paint in the center is thickly layered in textural swashes, though some peeks of the first layer, an iridescent fluorite green wash, still show through.

The palette of black, purple, blue, and green is reminiscent of a peacock feather, as is the sheen of sparkle that covers the entire painting.

Phosphorescence, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see sunlight picking up the flecks of tourmaline in the black, and the varying shades of purple floating atop the central vortex. Below, the same purples drift down into the shimmering metallic greens at the bottom of the painting.

Phosphorescence, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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Concentric 15

Monday, June 6th, 2022

Concentric 15, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper

The joy of experimenting with chaos in art is that sometimes you get happy accidents, and sometimes you get gibbous moons that stare at you like a creeper.

Despite that, the matte black makes a beautiful backdrop for these shimmering bursts of color, each one fading from one thing to another as it echoes out onto the page. Gold and violet, lavender and blue-green, each one is a unique combination that changes as you look at it.

Which is your favorite part of this painting, the spooky, the pretty, or the contrast between the two?

Concentric 15, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, the dots sparkle with tiny flecks of iridescent paint. Below, you can see this moody, colorful piece in a frame, waiting to add some strangeness to your life.

Concentric 15, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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Concentric 14

Friday, June 3rd, 2022

Concentric 14, 7″x5″ watercolor on yupo

The Floating Gallery is open and ready for you, my darlings!

A change of pace for the Concentric series, this painting has a shimmering blue background with opaque, matte designs atop.

The translucent yupo paper lets the light glow through, but also makes it hard to photograph with any kind of color accuracy. Although the palette is all blues and purples and shining silver, it’s hard to tell which shade of which is there when they shift with the light.

These feel more like flowers than fireworks to me, like bursts of color atop a shimmering pond or strange flocks against a cloud-flocked sky. What do you see?

Concentric 14, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see up close the way the paint sparkles and shifts in the light, and the way the yupo seems to glow with its own translucency. Below, it’s sequestered in a frame, waiting for its new home.

Concentric 14, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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March 2022 Patreon Sketches

Monday, May 9th, 2022

There should be a Floating Gallery coming for you June 1, but for now please enjoy a nice big batch of sketch cards for my darling Patreon patrons! Some of them are for specific people, and then extras get sent to my Snow Leopards in with their other quarterly goodies.

March 2022 ACEO sketches by Amy Crook

There’s eight here, only two of which are spoken for! From top left:

  • Purple abstract! I dunno, I just like it.
  • Weird silly drippy experiment abstract, which I also like now that I’ve plaid-ified the gold and turquoise a bit.
  • Jeff asked for “writer’s block” and got this shiny, trippy bit of weirdness.
  • Eric asked for SPAAAAAACE! and his is also shiny, but he gets a TARDIS.
  • This cool sky I made got a city and some birbs to go with it.
  • I gave this little raven some more cowbell and untucked his face from his wing.
  • I also gave this abstract some more cowbell and now it’s reasonably unrecognizable and also has some Concentric vibes.
  • And this last one is full Concentric, with a bunch of bursts that kind of vanish and 3 that do not. Totally something that doesn’t work in a photo, sorry.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
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You Are Far From Done

Friday, April 8th, 2022

You Are Far From Done, 10″x8″ watercolor on paper

Gorgeous shades of purple swirl into a black hole in the middle, where even the light of the stars and the shine of the paint vanishes. It very much feels like a view of space where stars bright and dim glimmer and sparkle out of a swirl of color.

The text at the bottom says, “you are far from done…” and that’s a sentiment I think a lot of us need in this difficult time. Prices rise and rise while wages stagnate, ugliness blooms while it seems like beauty is constantly under attack, but I’m here to tell you: there’s more for all of us.

We just have to find it together.

You Are Far From Done, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the words in their ruddy dark ink, and the scattering of stars both near and far twinkling up from the purple sky. Below, the art has been framed, but you can rescue it from the slammer if you want to make it yours! It’s slightly larger than its stated size, and I’d recommend framing it inside a mat or floated on some nice black museum board for maximum awesomeness.

You Are Far From Done, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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Concentric 13

Wednesday, April 6th, 2022

Concentric 13, 7″x5″ watercolor on paper

A gorgeous deep violet wash hides hints of teal spirals beneath it, while the concentric dot patterns bring in a shine of purple, blue-green, and silver. The light makes the firework bursts shine, while a change of angle lets all but the silver fade into the paper. The colors all have a dark base with the bright sparkles to better help it shine!

There’s a little hint of the Growth series around the edges as the silver circles break up and float off, waiting to see their own bright bursts further out in the galaxy. The shapes are like dandelions going to seed, explosions of life ready to find somewhere new to take root.

Concentric 13, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the bright purple centers on each burst and how they fade first to blue then soft green and finally silver. Below, the painting is in a frame, just bursting to belong to someone — maybe you!

Concentric 13, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books
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