Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category
Ten Thousand Sparklepoints
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Ten Thousand Sparklepoints by Amy Crook, $199
This sparkly, shiny bit of art is dedicated to the wonderful Havi Brooks and Tara Swiger, both of whom use the term ‘sparklepoints’ in many brilliant and encouraging ways.
All the drawing was done with glitter gel pens, and of course the salt pools are their usual glittery selves, so the title made itself obvious to me early on. It’s definitely the sparkliest thing I’ve done to date, though Curiosity comes a close second — I wonder what it is about the really girly-pretty ones that makes me want to write on them. This one has the title at the top in copper glitter gel pen to match the starburst shapes scattered amongst the lines and spirals of the background.
Ten Thousand Sparklepoints, 7″x5″ mixed media on watercolor paper, $199, framed, with free shipping.
You can really see the light shining off the pen lines and salt below.
Ten Thousand Sparklepoints, detail, by Amy Crook
This piece will be shipped in a simple black plastic frame, all set to go up on your wall or lean in a bookshelf.
Ten Thousand Sparklepoints, framed, by Amy Crook, $199
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: blue, for sale, glitter gel pen, pen and ink, salt, sparkly, watercolor
Weeble Wednesday: Me 3
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Weeble self-portrait by Amy Crook
Weeble Wednesday brings you more me! My red dye is fading, and I decided to do a new one to reflect my current style. Of course, I’ll have to ditch the cardigan and boots now that the weather’s warmed up, but nothing’s perfect, right?
I think this is my most accurate cartoon-me to date — as I was working on it, I actually pulled up some photos and realized that I have very sarcastic eyebrows. I suppose one needs to be naturally good at something, right?
I couldn’t figure out what I wanted the shirt to say, and I’m happy to take suggestions. I want something clever but work safe, which nixed most of my ideas one way or the other.
If you want to be a cartoon yourself, you can click here to get your very own weeble, chibi, fairy or just silly cartoon!
Categories: Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Tentacles
Tags: all rights reserved, cartoon, nfs, pen and ink, pencil, weeble
Iridescence
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
Iridescence by Amy Crook, $499
Despite the fact that very little about this piece is shiny aside from the salt crystals, it reminds me of the gentle iridescence of bird wings, and that’s where it gets its title. Much like Badlands from last week, this piece has some unusually tall and interesting salt formations, this time created on purpose by using big salt in little puddles.
The other day I mixed up some teal-black paint, and found ways to use it on several pieces but not, ironically, the piece it was originally intended for, which turned out to need more drying time before it was ready for the next step. Here it’s been watered down and then had extra drips and swirls of green and blue added in, which then flowed and dried in the beautiful color patterns you see here.
Iridescence, 7″x5″ watercolor, ink and salt on watercolor paper, $499, framed, with free shipping.
This piece is framed in a shadowbox to protect the salt crystals, and sitting on my bookshelf taking up space I’ll likely need to use for art pretty soon.
Iridescence, framed, by Amy Crook
I love the way some of the salt formations are secretly hollow inside, growing walls around an empty inner space where the original salt crystal sat. This one has another formation gamely trying to start off the top corner, as well, the color dense where the ink was concentrated.
Iridescence, detail 1, by Amy Crook
And this little ziggurat is a textbook formation of simple square crystals.
Iridescence, detail 2, by Amy Crook
As an added bonus to those of you who read this far down, have an iPhone wallpaper and computer wallpaper. I’m using the computer one myself right now!
After using the iPhone wallpaper for a while, I realized that, while it did have my signature on it, it didn’t have my favorite part of the image, the part Molly called a “dragon’s head.” So, for those of you seeing this many days after posting (yay you!), here’s a different iPhone wallpaper.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Free Wallpapers
Tags: blue, for sale, green, iridescence, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
1 Comment »
In Suspension
Monday, June 13th, 2011
In Suspension by Amy Crook, $199
This is another of my salt-and-watercolor paintings, this time done in shades of violet. The image reminded me of particles in suspension in a liquid, for really no apparent reason other than the nerdiness of my brain. I really like the way the pigment in these watercolors move and flow as they dry, which to me adds to the image of particles slowly settling out of a suspension; the darker violet at the bottom where the paint pooled is like silt at the bottom of a solution.
For this painting, I first painted the purple wash and let it dry fully. Then I added spirals of ink with a purple pen, placed a chunk of plain rock salt on each one, and covered both with water using an eyedropper. The purple ink dissolved partially in the water, as did some of the paint, and the salt dissolved completely. When the piece was allowed to sit for a day, salt crystals formed on the paper as the water evaporated, the ink and paint adding color to the salt. I keep worrying one of these days my cats will climb high enough in my bookshelves to lick the salt water right off the paper before it can dry, but so far, so good.
This paper is somewhat absorbent, so the drops of water tend to spread a little, and sink in, and the crystals are fairly flat to the surface of the paper. I haven’t yet found a good frame for this size, but the embossing makes them look like they’re already matted, adding a bit of formality to the otherwise abstract piece.
In Suspension, 5.5″x4.25″, watercolor, pen and ink, and salt on watercolor paper, $199 with free shipping.
I admit I’ve rather given up on my scanner properly showing off the embossing on these little cards, so I took another photo that’s got more accurate color and sparkle.
In Suspension, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, salt, violet, watercolor
Super Cute Squid Redux, Now With Vectors!
Saturday, June 11th, 2011
Super Cute Squid illustration by Amy Crook
If you remember the sketch I posted a while back, this guy will seem awfully familiar. I wanted to do something polished with him, so I busted out my little-used Adobe Illustrator skills and drew him up.
I’m thinking he might need to be cards or t-shirts, what do you think?
Super Cute Squid Redux, vector art, not for sale (because he’s only virtual!).
At least if he’s not real, he’s got a friend to be virtual with him.
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: illustrator, squid
4 Comments »
Microscopic
Friday, June 10th, 2011
Microscopic by Amy Crook, $199
My nerdity is showing with this piece — it looks just like I remember the view through the microscope in biology class years ago, mostly monochrome with the organic shapes against the liquid.
This time I was experimenting with putting the salt and ink on top of a dried wash of watercolor. First I painted the shape with the opaque periwinkle blue gouache, adding in a sprinkling of coarse Kosher salt for texture once it was partially dry. Once the wash had dried overnight, I brushed the salt off the painting, and then used a blue pen to put in the swirls (and sign it, once we were all done). I put a big chunk of salt on top of each swirl, and then used an eyedropper to add water over each spot.
The water didn’t stay as well as it usually does, flowing into the organic shapes you can see above. The salt and ink dissolved into the water, and then after 16 hours or so, the water evaporates, leaving behind the pool of ink and salt crystals which have grown right onto the paper, and are now a permanent part of the artwork. Also, it’s subtly sparkly, which I enjoy.
Microscopic, 5.5″x4.25″ watercolor, salt and ink on archival cardstock, $199, with free shipping.
I’m still working on finding frames for this size of piece, but the salt crystals that form on this paper tend to be smaller and less fragile, so there’s less concern about shipping it unframed.
Microscopic, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, gouache, pen and ink, salt, watercolor
Effervescent
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Effervescent by Amy Crook, $222
The pattern of the salt pools in this one reminded me of bubbles rising up through soda, so I went a sort of wacky Wonka route and made it grape soda purple fading up to blue. The bubbles are cola ink brown, bubbly limeade green and of course the blue goes well with the grape itself. Even the background wash is bubbly with salt texture.
Each brown bubble was made by dropping water over a salt crystal that had been coated in ink for another project, and so each one has a core of dark brown ink that somehow became sediment rather than going back to liquid. The other colors, too, were from paint-infused salt, I keep a little bowl of salt crystals that I’ve used in previous projects and I pulled out a selection for this painting, though have now dissolved completely and recrystallized straight onto the paper.
Effervescent, 5″x7″ salt, ink and watercolor on watercolor paper, $222 framed with free shipping.
You can see the playful combination of colors below, as well as the texture both visual and physical, and a little bit of the whimsical sparkle.
Effervescent, detail, by Amy Crook
And here it is in its frame, the salt crystals safely tucked behind glass.
Effervescent, framed, by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: for sale, ink, salt, watercolor
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