Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category
Princess Fish
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Princess Fish by Amy Crook
This tiny oil painting is perfect for a little niche. When I first found these wee little canvases with their accompanying easels, I was so excited to start painting right away that I painted up several backgrounds, and then let them sit for a while. While I was googling I found a photo of this colorful tropical fish, and then once she was painted, she demanded a crown to let everyone know she was the Princess of her little school of fish.
The edges of this little canvas are finished, the image wrapping around to the sides to add a little dimensions to this tiny bit of undersea paradise. The crown is painted in metallic gold, and there’s a touch of pearlescent white in the shining water and on her shimmery skin, just to add a little sparkle.
Princess Fish, 2.75″x2.75″ oil on canvas, 5″ tall easel, sold.
Categories: Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
Tags: fish, nfs, sold, tiny painting
Work in Progress: Fallen Angel
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Fallen Angel by Amy Crook
This piece is mostly done, but then, I thought it was complete many years ago, too. Through some trick of chemistry (I have my suspicions, but there’s no real way to know now) the paint began to flake off, foreground from background in big crackling curls. After a lot of contemplation, I decided I really liked the effect on the wings, but it didn’t go well on the figure — and I like to think my figure painting skills have improved since the first round.
I tried to think of a more original title for the piece, but I always think of an angel cast out of heaven, slowly decaying in the trap he’s fallen into, piece by piece. He’s losing his divinity, but hasn’t quite fully stepped into our reality, either, lacking the warmth and depth of a person.
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces, Works In Progress
Tags: angel, blue, oil painting, wip
Nugget
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
Nugget by Amy Crook
I got to paint squid! His name is Nugget.
My friend Gretchen commissioned me to paint her a giant squid to go over her mantle. We agreed on a size and general design, and after many months of slowness on my part acquiring the iridescent paint (He is about 95% iridescent or pearlescent. Shiny!), working and reworking his background, and finally getting him painted in and then made to not look bad, I have… SQUID! I will say that none of the photos really capture the color well, and nothing can really make you see the shiny that it is in person. It’s subtle, but awesome.
24″x36″, oil on canvas, not for sale (commission)
For the curious, here’s a bit of his process. Note how the bottom edge of the easel matches the bottom of the painting — you can see I’m a very careful, precise sort of artist. 😉
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Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Tentacles
Tags: all rights reserved, commission, nfs, squid, tentacles
1 Comment »
Into
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Into by Amy Crook
This is another monoprint, like Gate, that’s a one-of-a-kind piece. This one always reminded me of looking down into something and seeing light reflected back, or perhaps looking up out of where you are toward the brighter blue.
I like the way the brush texture was preserved by the printing process, but softened as the water-based inks soaked into the wet paper. The random elements of printing this way always appealed to me, putting paper and plate through the printing press to see what came out the other side.
Into, 3″x3″ monoprint on watercolor paper, sold.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: nfs, sold
Reaching Out
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Reaching Out by Amy Crook
I’ve always been a collector of odd bits and bobbles, and at one time I acquired a bunch of handmade postcards from India. They were lovely absorbent slightly off-sized pieces with wonderfully organic deckle edges, thick and irregular and strange. I took half a dozen into the printing studio with me and this one — the first I did — has always been my favorite of the bunch. So much so that I mailed it to my dad, who was kind enough to return it once it had completed its journey, since he had no suitable way to display it.
It’s currently tucked away in a frame and happily occupying a little niche in my apartment, where it reminds me of many good things every time I glimpse at it, including the fact that I talk to my dad a lot more now than I did back then.
Reaching Out, 4″x6″ etching and monoprint on handmade postcard, nfs.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
Tags: etching, nfs
Till the Walls Shall Crumble to Ruin
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Till the Walls Shall Crumble to Ruin
by Amy Crook
First you can see just the painting itself, cold winter sky stretched above and the snow melting into the dark, frozen earth, and the hydrangeas bravely blooming on anyway.
I am a terrible art photographer, so please excuse the uneven colours and strange shadows and glare. This project took ages (finding a box to ship it in was an unexpected challenge!) but I feel like the time spent was worth it, given the end result.
Till the Walls Shall Crumble to Ruin, triptych; oil on 10″x20″ canvas; digital photos thereof, InDesign layout & color laser prints on parchment paper in wood frames.
Sources: “The Children’s Hour” by Longfellow, and the Cezanne font
Read How it Happened…
I wasn’t sure how it would all work out when Natalie came to me wanting a painting. We talked for a long while on gmail, bandying ideas back and forth, drawing out the images she was really interested in, and over the course of days the idea of the triptych was born. The canvas itself is smallish, 10x20in, and I really enjoyed working in the odd dimensions with what felt like infinite sky stretching up above the tower slowly crumbling away on the cold winter ground.
There was a story to Natalie’s choices, but it’s not really mine to tell. Suffice it to say she is happy with the results, and hopes to have it hung in her new home soon.
Since my own walls are yellow, rather than white, I took a photo on a sheet to give one an idea of how it looks all assembled.
You can see that I found “float” frames in a dimension that’s similar to the canvas, tall and thin, and we split up the poem’s stanzas into two groups. On page 1 we have a photograph of the little stray hydrangea bush that was blooming valiantly outside the tower’s shelter, huddled up to our leading B. On page 2 I used a photo of the tower from the middle of the painting process, before the bushes were painted in, to allow the T to grow up out of it unencumbered.
And now, a bit of the process! I’m doing it backwards this time so that those who just want to see the final don’t have to scroll. 😉
The very first step was to create that cold winter sky and the hard, dark ground below. I actually was really tempted just to keep the canvas once it was done, there was something really appealing for me about the juxtaposition of colour and shade here, but I was good and kept going.
Then, once the background was nice and dry, I put in the sun and the trees, and blocked in the shape and shade of the tower.
Next the tower got shade and details put in, the shape of the bricks coming out. This is the stage that I photographed for the illuminated letter T.
Leaves! There were bushy plants painted in, just waiting for their blossoms.
I’ve skipped a few stages in here, but the blossoms went in and, some snow was added to the ground as well as shadows and some extra dimensionality for the scattered bricks on the ground. At this point I hung it in the living room to dry so I could look at it in low light, and the only real difference from this to the final is some extra highlighting and shading, and another layer of soft glow around the sun.
And of course, there’s the finished product:
Till the Walls Shall Crumble to Ruin
by Amy Crook
“It just turned out so perfect. I have no idea how she figured out exactly what I wanted before I even knew it, but this is it.
The first thing that grabbed me the first time she showed me a picture was the sun, all pale and wan up in the corner, and I still love it just as much in person. And the tree on the side! I love it so much.
And the poem turned out really well. I admit to being worried when we first started talking about doing it this way, but it worked out beautifully. The font, the floating, the paper… it came together very well.
It looks so great hanging on my wall.”
Natalie
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art
Tags: all rights reserved, commission, nfs
1 Comment »
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