Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Bubbling Bookmark
Monday, August 13th, 2012
Bubbling Bookmark
by Amy Crook
It’s Bookmark Week all over again! There are only two bookmarks left from the previous offerings, and one of this week’s is already spoken for — the artist is not responsible for dawdlers missing out on the one they liked and having to buy a larger, normally-priced original instead to assuage their disappointment. I’m totally okay with that, come to think of it.
There’s only one of each of these tiny originals, though obviously I sometimes do them in series within the series. Very meta.
Today’s bookmark is not part of a series, but reminds me of water boiling in a dark blue-black cast-iron cauldron. Snape would no doubt approve.
Bubbling Bookmark, 1″x5″ watercolor on paper.
Bubbling Bookmark, detail, by Amy Crook
Above is a close-up of the bubbles in all their glory, while below you can see the bookmark hanging out with a book and my iPhone for extra easy-to-parse size comparisons.
Bubbling Bookmark, with book, by Amy Crook
(book and iPhone not included)
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: bookmark, buy a bookmark, for sale, watercolor
Binary Green
Friday, July 13th, 2012
Binary Green by Amy Crook
Two green planets orbit each other in a mysterious, swirly blue-black sky. This binary system has continents dotted with sparkling salt crystals, perhaps the cities of some alien race.
I have three flower-shaped ceramic palettes of Japanese watercolors. One is earth tones, reds and oranges. One is blues, purples and a nice solid black. The last one is greens and yellows and a matte blue-black that you can see making the swirly night above. I had my water brushes out the other night with the green palette, and this piece was one of the results, along with the tentacles from Tuesday. (There’s also a pair of bookmarks no one will see until I get to 7 and declare another Bookmark Week.)
I really like the effect I’m getting with judicious use of the saturated salt solution, dripping it onto damp watercolor and making mysterious geographies as the two interact. I think I’ll take my planets to Endgame this month and give the skies a rest, so look out for that post as well.
Binary Green, 7″x5″ Japanese watercolor and salt on paper.
Binary Green, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the sparkling salt on the upper left planet’s surface, where below we have the darker shapes glittering from the surface of the lower right planet.
Binary Green, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally, I’ve put it in a frame (sans glass), so you can imagine it sitting on your desk at work, giving you dreams of distant worlds during your coffee breaks.
Binary Green, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: balls, for sale, green, planet, salt, watercolor
Red Planet 2
Friday, July 6th, 2012
Red Planet 2 by Amy Crook
The pitted surface of this planet combines with its warmer tones to be more Mars-like than the first Red Planet painting. I used salt in damp-to-wet watercolor to get the texture, after I’d made a wash that I liked the color variations on. The planets on white paper always make me think of some specimen or illustration in a science book, from some mysterious future where we’ve seen more planets than the nine eight in our solar system (poor Pluto!).
Red Planet 2, 7″x5″ salt and watercolor on paper.
Red Planet 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see light reflecting off some of the few little salt crystals that actually formed on the surface. Below, the planet floats serenely in its frame, just waiting to add some science fiction to your life.
Red Planet 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, planet, red, salt, watercolor
Filigree Planet
Friday, June 29th, 2012
Filigree Planet by Amy Crook
And here we have the final piece with the spirals of doom. I was really in love with the planet itself before I got out the pens, and then I was so delighted by the filigree look on Monday’s piece that I decided all the space around this one needed it. It’s slightly less masochistic than the piece I’m still working on with the black pen-and-ink spiral texture, which means it actually got done whereas that one’s back on hold until my wrist forgives me in a few more days.
The warm, bright purple of the glitter stands out much more clearly on the black paper, in the way of these things, framing this richly textured planet with whimsical spirals. There’s a very subtle bit sheen to the dark salt crystals that formed as the piece dried, but it’s very subdued compared to the bright glittery “stars” surrounding the planet.
I first painted the actual periwinkle wash, then I took a darker, warmer violet and dripped it wetly onto the still-damp wash. Finally, I added a few drips of salt water to the mix and, after a bit more interference, let the whole thing dry. The spirals came last, and in stages over the course of a couple of days.
Filigree Planet, 5″x5.25″ Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Filigree Planet, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the sun lighting up the glittery spirals and just glinting off the salt at the center of the piece. Below, I tilted the piece away from the light so you can see the difference in color. It’s interactive!
Filigree Planet, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Finally we have it loosely tucked into a 5″x5″ frame, though it doesn’t really fit as it’s just a wee bit too wide. It’ll need to be matted into a bigger frame for final display, which I can do for you if you like for an additional fee.
Filigree Planet, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, filigree, glitter gel pen, nfs, periwinkle, planet, purple, salt, sold, spirals, violet, watercolor
Filigree Moon
Monday, June 25th, 2012
Filigree Moon by Amy Crook
I’m utterly delighted by this piece, from the salt pools with their soft, chalky centers to the fine filigree of glittering spirals over the subtly colored moon. I almost didn’t put a price on it at all, and I’ll definitely find a spot for it among my shelves where it can bring me delight for as long as it lives here.
The glitter gel pen has no actual pigment in it, and the glitter in it is remarkably large, so that you get an effect of translucency that reminds me of glitter nail polish. From some angles the filigree is bright and obvious, but from others, like the one in the scanner, it’s barely there at all. The tiny salt-pool stars add their own bit of sparkle to the piece, and the velvety black paper makes the perfect space backdrop.
Filigree Moon, 7″x5″ salt, Japanese watercolor and glitter gel pen on Arches cover black paper.
Filigree Moon, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the filigree lit up by the sunlight, spirals and curlicues that shimmer and vanish when you turn the painting away from the sun. Below, you can see that I’ve finally had the brilliant idea to photograph the black paper pieces without the glass in the frame, and magically there’s no glare. Fancy that.
Filigree Moon, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black paper, filigree, for sale, glitter gel pen, moon, periwinkle, salt, spirals, watercolor
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Milk White Moon
Monday, June 4th, 2012
Milk White Moon by Amy Crook
I’ve done moons in blue and orange and yellow, silver and gold and iridescent lavender, and I thought I’d try one in simple white. The salt, too, is undiluted with paint, so there’s nothing but the black paper, white ink and white salt, and any color is just refracted light through the crystals.
There’s two sets of salt pools, the deeper ones with spirals at the center that grew from fat droplets of water carefully applied, and the shallow ones dripped down from a height to splash onto the paper. There’s even little tiny crystals here and there where smaller droplets splashed away from the bigger, which brings a lovely depth to the piece like a real sky.
Milk White Moon, 5″x5″ gel pen and salt on Arches cover black paper.
Milk White Moon, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the delicate splash of one single careless drop of water, surrounded by deeper pools of salt. Below is a close-up of one of those pools, the largest one in the lower center with the large white spiral hiding in its depths.
Milk White Moon, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally the piece in the warm summer sunshine, and a frame of course, basking on the blotter of my writing desk with my iPhone for scale.
Milk White Moon, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: black and white, black paper, for sale, gel pen, moon, salt
2 Comments »
Red Planet
Friday, June 1st, 2012
Red Planet, watercolor by Amy Crook
This piece is a combination of old ideas and new toys. I got some nifty waterbrushes to test out, and some new eyedroppers for my salt solution, and used them together to paint another planet. First I used the waterbrushes to paint in the circular wash in two shades of red, and then I added a few drops of salt solution to the mix while the paint was still wet and forced myself to set the whole thing aside to dry without any further interference.
There’s not a lot of sparkle in this one, mostly the salt created texture rather than crystals, but I love the way the texture looks like the surface of some far-away alien planet.
Red Planet, 8″x8″ salt and watercolor on paper.
Red Planet, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the texture and a tiny bit of shine where the salt catches the light. Below, I’ve got it put in a wall frame (they don’t make many 8″x8″ standing frames), which can be yours for a small additional fee mostly relating to the shipping costs where you are.
Red Planet, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, pink, planet, red, salt, watercolor
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