Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category
Salt Cell
Monday, March 21st, 2011
Salt Cell by Amy Crook
I’ve been doing more experiments with my paints lately, and today’s piece is a very simple one done using a single color of paint and a small handful of coarse Kosher salt. The paint, originally in a fairly even wash, pooled and patterned in a way that makes me think of cellular structure under a microscope. And to think, I once had a biology lab instructor tell me I ought to go into scientific illustration.
Salt Cell, 5″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper, sold.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: green, nfs, salt, sold, watercolor
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Growth
Friday, March 18th, 2011
Growth by Amy Crook
I finished this little piece and then had to let it sit overnight to think of what to call it. The central circle initially put me in mind of a moon, or a planet, or possibly a pirate’s black spot when it was all by itself, a dark blue-black shadow of painted ink that dried to a gorgeous matte finish.
Then I came in days later and decided to add the little clusters of circles around it in black fountain pen, knowing that the ink would blur and spread as I made the little circles, adding texture and shadow. As I built up the outside texture, it reminded me of a decorative border, or a cluster of marine eggs, or possibly a layer of industrial growth around a planet, building up and sending off pieces out into the space around it. Or perhaps floating down from the white to aggregate, giving life to the lifeless rock in the middle.
Growth, 5″x5″ pen & ink and Japanese watercolor on watercolor paper.
Growth, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the tiny little circles that make up the pattern of growth, pushing off and away from the central mass. Below, you can see it in a narrow-edged frame with its brand-new sibling, and my iPhone for scale.
Growth 2 and Growth, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black, brush and ink, for sale, growth, pen and ink, planet, studio gallery, watercolor
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Los Muertos 1
Monday, March 14th, 2011
Los Muertos 1 by Amy Crook
This piece was born out of pure play. I first brushed in a spiral in watery black ink, and then I watered the ink down even further to make lighter and lighter greys to play with. I also added in a tiny bit of color here and there, which is almost completely obscured by the later crosshatching. Then I used a green fountain pen to crosshatch around the main shape, starting while the paper was wet and letting it dry as I worked, so some of the lines are more blurred than others.
Then I wet down the central area all over again and used a black pen to ink there, and when I was done, the whole thing reminded me of one of those elaborately decorated Day of the Dead skulls. I got my dark red fountain pen (which the scanner decided was rather more magenta than the real thing) and drew spiral eyes, and then signed the piece using that red as well.
The end effect is rather creepy, but as I’m fond of creepy, that works out well.
Los Muertos 1, 5″x7″ pen and ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: crosshatching, for sale, pen and ink, skull, watercolor
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
3 Comments »
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
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