Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Seuss Heart
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011
Seuss Heart by Amy Crook
Since I posted weebles yesterday, I thought I’d post something else today for variety.
This watercolor piece came together very organically, out of the rich pigments in my Japanese paints and my own random thought processes. I started out painting a very pink heart, and when that didn’t suit me at all, I added the deep red along one side, and then the half-circle of purple nestling up next to it. The wet pigments ran and mixed to create something much more interesting, textures that kept evolving until they’d dried completely.
A touch of the original fuchsia shows up in the left lobe of the heart, and so when I signed it, I chose a fuchsia fountain pen (also from Japan) to echo that.
The piece felt incomplete, however, so when I found this quote about love from Dr. Seuss, I wrote it into the curve of the half-circle with a violet fountain pen, knowing from experience that the ink would blur and run. Though it’s nearly impossible to read, I think the words add layer of visual meaning to the piece.
“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness
is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
– Dr. Seuss
Seuss Heart, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
You can also get this piece printed on a handmade card on Etsy.
Seuss Heart, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: Dr. Seuss, for sale, heart, pen and ink, quote, watercolor
4 Comments »
Box of Envy
Thursday, March 3rd, 2011
Box of Envy by Amy Crook
I was torn for what to call this experimental little watercolor piece, so I poked around quote sites until I found a Shakespearian insult from Troilus and Cressida, “Thou damnable box of envy.” I liked the way the metaphor fit with the one I’d created, especially mixed with the shades of green from teal to chartreuse that permeate the image.
Box of Envy, 6″x4.25″ watercolor on handmade watercolor postcard.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, postcard, watercolor
Blood Moon
Monday, February 28th, 2011
Blood Moon by Amy Crook
Tonight I got out some watercolor paper and my paints and sat down to just play. I painted a number of washes for future use. This red-pink circle had dried just enough that, once the paints were put away, I sat with a red fountain pen and just started shading. Once I’d put in a small section of red on red, I started to see the moon shape forming, so I finished it up deliberately. Then, at the end, I took a darker red pen and put in the little spirals, over the places I’d dripped in a bit of blue-black when the wash was still wet.
I used a simpler texture than the one from my Texture Experiment 1, which let the work go faster and less precisely. In general, however, I’m finding a heretofore-unknown penchant for obsessive detail and crosshatching. I must be maturing; the last time I tried it with etching, I hated the fine, tedious work.
Blood Moon, 5″x5″ watercolor, pen and ink on reused watercolor paper, sold.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: blood moon, crosshatching, moon, nfs, pen and ink, sold, spiral, watercolor
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Clusters and Swirls
Monday, February 21st, 2011
Clusters and Swirls, 6.5″x4.25″ watercolor on handmade postcard
I’ve been experimenting a lot with my watercolors this weekend, and I think this is the most successful of the oddities I finished. I loved the warm orange-gold, dotted with little hints of rose, even before I got out the reds and started playing around with the idea of clusters and filaments again. I tried not to be too precious about things, just painting whatever came to mind, making patterns and then breaking them. When I was done there was still something missing, so I took a different shade of red and put in the swirls, and that really brought the whole piece together for me.
I tend to like working with pure pigments more than mixing sometimes, though I’m trying to move myself away from that tendency. The background was definitely a mix of different colors blended wet-in-wet on the paper, but all the foreground details were done with two pure Japanese inks, one in a deep bloody red and the other in a bright fire-engine red.
One cool thing about getting more serious about making art every single day is that I’m using up a ton of art supplies I’ve hoarded over the years. I’ve probably had these handmade postcards from India for over a decade, they’re thick and stiff like cardstock with an interesting and uneven texture that varies between watercolor paper and canvas.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, postcard, watercolor
Three
Friday, February 18th, 2011
Three by Amy Crook
This piece I actually painted upside-down, wasn’t thrilled with it, and then as soon as I flipped it over to get the background wash finished up I was suddenly oddly pleased. I can’t really explain what I like about it, but I really do like it.
It’s another piece that’s mostly ink & watercolor experiments, but I think the result has a nice graphical feel to it. I have the urge to frame this piece a specific way with the postcard floated on a black mat, perhaps one day I’ll make the effort. I have one other postcard framed that way, and I think this one would benefit from that.
Three, 6.5″x4″ watercolor on handmade postcard, $99 with free shipping.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, swooshy, watercolor
Moleskine Volant: Clusters
Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Clusters Volant by Amy Crook
This is the second of the pair of blue Volant notebooks, in a lighter blue. This one I drew with a more abstract design in just two colors of oil paint marker, blue and black. I wanted to explore the idea of clusters of objects, and interconnectedness, without getting too obsessive about the details. The first clusters I drew at the top were close-fitting and made me think of blackberries, so as I moved downward I tried to add a little more space and looseness to their structure.
Clusters, 5″x8.25″ Sharpie oil markers on a 96-page blank Moleskine Volant. $29 with free shipping.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Moleskines
Tags: for sale, moleskine, oil markers, sharpie, volant
Texture Experiment 1
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
Texture Experiment 1 by Amy Crook
A while ago I was working on some watercolors, and I played around making some shapes to use as a base for future drawings. I have a lot of small pieces of this thick, soft buff-coloured paper torn out from my printmaking days, and so I used one of those for this. You can see below a few in-progress shots that give you a better idea of what’s hiding under all that texture.
I was inspired by three things for this, first by Kirsty M. Hall’s tendency to draw abstract shapes and textures over already-done drawings and photographs, especially evident looking at some of the great pieces in her 365 Jars project. The second thing was a Jack Skellington drawing I saw earlier this week on Tumblr of all places, and while I love the image out of pure fangirl joy, I was fascinated by the rich textures in the background. On top of that, of course, I had found the process of doing my crosshatched hatbox quite meditative, so I tried to incorporate elements of all three things.
I’ve just bought a set of Micron pens, so I used the second-largest of those to do the black swirl, and then I used a turquoise Pilot fountain pen from Japan, whose ink bled gorgeously into the pale turquoise of the watercolor, adding an extra dimension of contrast between the two sections. Expect to see more of the Micron pens, which I’m a little bit in love with, though I don’t plan to give up my favorite brush pen — I can have pens on the side, it’s an open relationship.
Texture Experiment 1, 5″x5″ pen and ink and watercolor on Arches cover white paper.
Below are some progress shots I took with my iPhone. Sorry about the quality, I was txting a friend for encouragement, and I decided to share!
Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 1, by Amy Crook
Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 2, by Amy Crook
Texture Experiment 1, progress shot 3, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: crosshatching, for sale, pen and ink, spiral, watercolor
6 Comments »
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