Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Hibiscus Pink
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
Hibiscus Pink by Amy Crook, $323
If a paper doesn’t have the right pH to change the hibiscus tea to blue, it dries a rich, saturated pink with just a hint of violet undertones. The color layers on much more solidly than the blue, soaking into the paper to make it look almost dyed.
This is also the paper that makes gorgeous little flower-like shapes with the salt, which turned out very pale with the assortment of ink colors I chose for the piece. There’s 21 of them, in 3 very similar shades.
It’s a bit of a difficult piece for me to judge because I’m not a fan of pink, but I do think it’s a successful one. The rich color of the tea really permeates the paper, while the inks colored the salt very delicately, giving a good contrast between them.
Hibiscus Pink, 5″x7″mixed media on watercolor paper, $323, framed, with free shipping.
This detail shot shows the subtle raised texture of the salt crystals on the paper, and the sparkle at the center of each salt “flower”.”
Hibiscus Pink, detail, by Amy Crook
When I was making the piece, I tried to make a sort of gradient, distributing the orange, red and pink circles. I always love the way the water droplets pick up the color and shine on the paper, a temporary moment of beauty in the process.
Hibiscus Pink, work in progress, by Amy Crook
The paper on this piece is a little big for a standard 5″x7″ frame, so I might change it out for a matted one if it sells, but here you can get an idea of how it looks framed.
Hibiscus Pink, framed, by Amy Crook, $323
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, hibiscus, pen and ink, salt, tea
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Hibiscus Blue 2
Monday, July 18th, 2011
Hibiscus Blue 2, art by Amy Crook, $444
This second installment in my Hibiscus Blue series is much simpler. I constrained myself to 13 ink spirals, which turned into 13 salt formations. The blue-black pen dyes the salt a very compatible color to the shade the hibiscus tea turns when painted onto this paper, so the whole painting has a very harmonious feel to it. The tea starts out a bright ruby-red, and then changes in color from anywhere to a soft lavender to a deep, rich blue, depending on the amount of tea on the page, among other things.
The whole painting gives the feeling of rain softly pattering onto a pool of blue water, as the concentric rings of color fade and interact between each set of circles.
Hibiscus Blue 2, 7″x5″ mixed media on paper, $444, framed, with free shipping.
Hibiscus Blue 2, framed art by Amy Crook, $444
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: for sale, hibiscus, hibiscus blue, pen and ink, salt
Hibscus Blue 1
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Hibiscus Blue 1 by Amy Crook, $323
I can’t remember who it was that suggested I try out hibiscus tea after I started using regular old black tea on some of these works, but thank you!
It’s fascinating the way the rich, ruby red liquid turns blue when added to certain papers, which is apparently the natural anthocyanins reacting to the pH. I love how multiple layers gave me different shades of blue, and I combined this with the salt circles to create a harmonious whole.
I actually made 21 circles of salt on this page, 7 in each of 3 different shades of blue pen, but the 2 lighter blues turned nearly identical when mixed with the salt and water. I ended up dissolving one of the circles completely to create some visual space in the piece, which I then filled with layer upon layer of the hibiscus tea.
Each layer had to dry before I could work with it more, since it doesn’t stop developing color until it’s fully dry, so this piece took days to get from blank page to finished art.
Hibiscus Blue 1, 5″x7″ mixed media on paper, $323, framed, with free shipping.
Here you can see the sparkle that’s lost in the scanner, and the purple-blue color that the hibiscus tea stained the salt crystals.
Hibiscus Blue 1, detail, by Amy Crook
The piece is safely tucked into its frame and ready to come hang on a wall, find a spot in a bookshelf or perhaps stand up on your desk at work.
Hibiscus Blue 1, framed, by Amy Crook, $323
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: blue, for sale, hibiscus, hibiscus blue, pen and ink, salt, tea
Ever Outward
Friday, July 8th, 2011
Ever Outward, tiny oil painting by Amy Crook, $129
This is a companion piece to another little oil painting, In and In and In. After the “light at the end of the tunnel” feeling of the first painting, I wanted something that instead felt like emerging from the heart of a mystery. Most of the paint on this is iridescent, the purple and even the black in the middle, though the paint around the outside is an opaque blue-white that frames and grounds the piece.
Ever Outward, 2.75″x2.75″ oil paint on canvas with 5″ wooden easel, $129 with free shipping.
Here you can see the piece on its easel, with the shimmering paint highlighted despite the back lighting that darkens up the white frame.
Ever Outward, with easel, by Amy Crook, $129
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: easel, for sale, oil painting, tiny painting
Goth Vines
Thursday, July 7th, 2011
Goth Vines by Amy Crook, $222
Inspired by the same sort of Tim-Burton-esque design as Saturday’s Deplorable Figurine, this piece combines the fractal salt images with pen-and-ink drawing that was later softened with a wet brush.
Despite the fact that I no longer dress up much, my Goth tastes still permeate a lot of my life, from the Living Dead Doll in her coffin atop my bookshelf to the plethora of Nightmare Before Christmas collectibles around the house. I’ve always enjoyed things that make me say, “That’s so weird!” That sensibility shows up in my work sometimes, like today’s piece, not to mention all the zombies, vampires and other such cartoons.
Goth Vines, 5″x5″ ink and salt on watercolor paper, $222, framed, with free shipping.
The now-blue spirals started out as black fountain pen ink, but the water drew out the brown-gold portion of the ink, making golden haloes around the blue-grey centers. The effect gives them an odd glow where they attach to the end of the vines, though actually the vines were drawn in later.
Goth Vines, progress, by Amy Crook
I really think this detail shot I got is gorgeous, especially at extreme closeup – click on it (or nearly any image in my posts) to see it bigger!
Goth Vines, detail, by Amy Crook
I like the way the vines seem to grow out of the narrow black frame I found for them.
Goth Vines, framed, by Amy Crook, $222
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black, for sale, goth, pen and ink, salt
1 Comment »
Snowflakes
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
Snowflakes by Amy Crook, $222
After seeing the lovely crystal formations in Aglow, I decided to test out what I could get with blue ink and the same paper. The effect was extremely simple but quite lovely, so I decided to keep it as is rather than muddle it up with anything else.
Snowflakes, 5″x5″ pen and ink and salt on watercolor paper, $222, framed, with free shipping.
Here’s a shot of one of the snowflakes up close.
Snowflakes, detail, by Amy Crook
It’s enhanced well by a very simple black frame.
Snowflakes, framed art by Amy Crook
I’ve put a detailed set of shot of the progress behind the cut, so you can see how the snowflakes grew.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: blue, for sale, pen and ink, salt
1 Comment »
Oil Slick
Monday, July 4th, 2011
Oil Slick by Amy Crook, $199
I’m constantly frustrated by how hard these pieces are to photograph. The few people who have seen them in person agree with me that there’s really no way to capture the texture, the play of light and color, and the overall feel of the sparkling salt. In this case, the salt sucked up the paint and the dark green ink spirals to acquire a dark iridescence like an oil slick or a bird’s wing.
Oil Slick, 5.5″x4.25″ mixed media on embossed card, $199 with free shipping. I’m still on the lookout for frames for these pieces, but they could be mounted in a larger frame quite easily with a simple matte.
You can see below how the salt crystals formed with layers of color, making intriguing tiny patterns within the patterns.
Oil Slick, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And here’s a hint of the way the colors shift and change when you move the piece in the light:
Oil Slick, detail 2, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
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