Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Jellyfish Bookmark 1
Friday, February 17th, 2012
Jellyfish Bookmark 1
by Amy Crook
The second-to-last day of Bookmark Week is upon us! I’ve already got a few ideas for next time, too, so I hope you’re enjoying the shift from small to super-small art this week.
This one I actually just doodled idly while I was on the phone, thinking of my larger piece Jellyfish Deeps as I worked. I thought about going back in to try to add a little color, but I liked the slight reddish cast the mat board gave to the white gel pen. I’m sure I’ll do another of these sometime, though, the jellyfish are just too entertaining.
Jellyfish Bookmark 1, 0.875″x5.875″ white gel pen on black mat board, nfs, sold.
Jellyfish Bookmark 1, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see how the black mat board bled red into white of the ink, though it’s made much more pink by my camera here. The mat board is quite thick, but it would still slip easily into a book as long as you don’t shove it all the way to the spine. Below, I have the jellyfish hanging out with a hardcover, for size comparison.
Jellyfish Bookmark 1, with book, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
Tags: bookmark, crosshatching, gel pen, jellyfish, nfs, pen and ink, sold, tentacles
Meadow Bookmark
Thursday, February 16th, 2012
Meadow Bookmark by Amy Crook
The only horizontal bookmark from this week uses opaque Japanese watercolors on recycled paper. By recycled I mean my printer had a spaz printing some cards and I’ve painted over the old image, though a tiny bit of it seeps through at the right angles. Instead of throwing away these mistakes, I save the paper for other experiments, since the blank cards I use are thick and have a lovely texture for drawing or painting.
Every once in a while, after drawing all the tentacles and monsters a girl could desire, I just feel like painting an abstract field of wildflowers. I can almost imagine the bees buzzing lazily as they collect all the different pollen to make tasty honey just for me.
Meadow Bookmark, 6.75″x2″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Meadow Bookmark, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, this photo reveals all the textures in this little bookmark, from the paper to the little bumps made by the flowers as the beaded droplets of paint dried. Below is the obligatory photo of the bookmark with a book, for scale.
Meadow Bookmark, with book, by Amy Crook
On my monitor this last picture is the best one to show the colors off, but really, your monitor and mileage may vary. Just one of the frustrations in showing art online, I suppose.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: bookmark, nfs, sold, watercolor
Salt Bookmark 2
Monday, February 13th, 2012
Salt Bookmark 2
by Amy Crook
It’s bookmark week! Lately when I tear giant sheets of art paper down to the sizes I like to work in, I’ve been saving the blank scraps, and this week I have enough finished bookmarks to make a week of it. I tried to do at least one in each of the styles I’ve been using, so there’s quite a variety, and they’re all for sale and a bookmark-friendly price. I’m not going to put them in the main art shop, but you can always go look at the collection (plus my older couple of contributions) by going to the bookmark tag. I’ve priced these nice and low so that you can get your hands on an Amy Crook original without breaking the bank, and have a bit of art to carry with you, keeping your place safe and beautiful.
Each one of these is an original, one-of-a-kind work of art, and I decided to start the week off with a salt painting. Barely-green salt and two colors of green glitter gel pen give this piece a shimmer that’s really appealing. The salt crystals are small enough not to get crunched off or damage your book, though they might wear over time, the way these things do.
Salt Bookmark 2, 1″x5″ ink-dyed salt and glitter gel pen on black paper, nfs, sold.
Salt Bookmark 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the contrast between the pen that’s mostly glitter, and the pen that’s a fine metallic ink, both in color and density. The salt and its halo both glimmer in the sunlight. Below, you can see its size compared to a standard hardcover book.
Salt Bookmark 2, with book, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: black paper, bookmark, crosshatching, gel pen, nfs, pen and ink, salt, sold
Mood Ring
Thursday, February 9th, 2012
Mood Ring, abstract watercolor painting by Amy Crook, $323
More experiments with the awesome black paper this week. This paper is actually colored by a chemical reaction in the paper pulp when they manufacture it, so the velvety black color is completely lightfast. Possibly more so than the paint and inks I use, actually.
The deep purple paint nearly disappears into the paper, but the opaque red pulls it into visibility, and both colors dye the salt here and there. I think I did tint this salt with ink as well, but I’m having a hard time remembering. The end result had a very ’70s feel to it to me, hence the title. Yeah, I said hence.
Mood Ring, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on paper, $323 framed, with free shipping.
Something about the middle ring in the group of 3 catches the light much more than the other rings, which you can see in the detail below.
Mood Ring, detail 1, by Amy Crook
Below you can see the purple and red paint bleeding into the salt in the circles down in the lower right. I also made an iPhone wallpaper of the three central circles, and am sneaking it in here for those who read all the words.
Mood Ring, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And this one actually does fit into a frame, so you can see it next to my iPhone (for scale only, sorry) below.
Mood Ring, framed art by Amy Crook, $323
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: black, for sale, purple, red, salt, watercolor
Ultramarine
Friday, January 20th, 2012
Ultramarine by Amy Crook, $299
I’ve been wanting something other than plain white for backgrounds on the salt pieces just for contrast, so this time I painted the paper with a very light yellow wash and added in some slightly darker spirals to the mix. This whole piece is really about spirals, from the little watercolor stick spirals that didn’t dissolve even a tiny bit into the salt, to the big ones around the pools. It gets its name from the shade of blue, of course, ultramarine both inside and outside the salt pools.
Ultramarine, 6″x6″ watercolor and salt on paper, $299 framed, with free shipping.
In the same way that my scanner likes to think white paper is really blue, my camera often splashes them with red, so I’d say the real color is somewhere in between the detail below and the scan above. Oh, technology.
Ultramarine, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, for sale, salt, watercolor, yellow
Dichrome
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Dichrome by Amy Crook
Despite the rather random way this image came about (and really, do my abstract pieces come about any other way?), I’m really in love with the stuttering flow of the paint and the subtle transition from warm orange to cool, soft blue. The salt pools came later, using a black ink that separates in water into brown and blue, which mixed beautifully with the pink Himalayan salt.
The swoop of paint reminds me of clouds at sunset, breaking up as they rise up into the sky, but then I’m not sure what the salt pools would become, though they were absolutely necessary for the visual balance of the piece.
Dichrome, 6″x6″ watercolor, ink and salt on paper, nfs (sold).
There’s a lot of variation in the salt pools this time around, and here you can really see the colors of them and how they echo the paint colors.
Dichrome, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And here’s another view of the same section that allows you to really appreciate the geometric crystals in the big pool, and the chunk of pink salt with its rough surfaces that’s nearby. I always find the close-up photos of the salt crystal formations fascinating.
Dichrome, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, nfs, orange, salt, sold, watercolor
2 Comments »
ATC: Flourish
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Flourish, artist trading card by Amy Crook
I still have a bunch in my pack of Artist Trading Cards, so I decided to pull one out and just doodle a bit. Once I’d drawn in the little vine pattern in the corner, the word “flourish” sprung to mind so I went ahead and wrote it in messy calligraphy. Then I got out a brush and, using water and the ink already on the card, I smoothed out the shapes, and even ‘painted’ some new ones.
The whole thing has a feel of decorative whimsy, which goes quite well with the idea of adding flourishes, and also of flourishing in a more personal sense, at least for me. A life without whimsy or decoration would be awfully boring, after all.
Flourish, 3.5″x2.5″ ink on paper, nfs (but available for trading).
We actually had some sunshine this morning, so I took a photo and got a slightly better view of the very pale details in the middle of the card.
Flourish, detail, by Amy Crook
If you’re an artist who makes ATCs of your own, and are coveting this one, let me know!
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: aceo, atc, brush and ink, calligraphy, decorative, pen and ink
« Or Head Back That Way
More Art This Way »
