Archive for the ‘Daily Art’ Category
Blue Planet 2
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012
Blue Planet 2, watercolor by Amy Crook
Of all the Blue Planets, this one is a bit like the control in the group. I didn’t have the issues I did with the first one because I very sneakily put the paper on a small plate, so all its edges were raise and the big pool stayed pooled in the center. I didn’t make tentacles, or use a different paper (that’s tomorrow’s). It’s just a simple abstract idea of a blue-green planet floating serenely in the star-studded blackness.
I really like how each of the stars is its own tiny echo of the planet, with salt at the edges, then the green and finally blue in the center. The whole thing feels both familiar and alien at once, and the salt gives it a bit of twinkling light of its own, if only by reflection.
Blue Planet 2, 5″x5″ salt and watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Blue Planet 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the big, square crystals that formed all through the planet’s surface, as well as the darker edge crystals and the soft transition from green to blue. Below, you can see it happily tucked into its frame and reflecting onto the shiny iPhone hanging out to show size.
Blue Planet 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
SFEtsy Art Show at STUDIO Gallery
Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012
SFEtsy Art Show at STUDIO Gallery, May 2-27, 2012
I’m in a gallery show! It’s all very exciting. It opened technically yesterday, but the reception is Saturday, May 12 from 2-6pm, so you should totally come! Yes, you.
Oh, right, you live on the other side of the country. Well, okay, you’re excused, then.
But not you! You’re just going to have to come.
I have four pieces in the show, which is a big group show with over 60 artists from the SFEtsy Street Team. You can see the details here, and hopefully you’ll find the time to stop by and maybe even the money to buy a piece or three. There’s a wide range of prices, media and themes, which I’ll get to see at the reception I mentioned.
Yay, gallery show! In a real, live gallery! I’ll see you all there, right? Right.
Categories: Daily Art, Words Words Words
Tags: gallery, show, studio gallery, yay
Blue Planet 3
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
Blue Planet 3, watercolor by Amy Crook
I know this is only the second day of posting and the third piece in the series, but Tentacle Tuesday is a tradition by now! After I watched the first two Blue Planets form, I wondered if it would be possible to make the green at the edges slither tentacle-like toward the center.
It turns out it was, but they’re very subtle, so I ended up going in later to add the outer tentacles, making this one a color-inverse of Tentacle Planet with the blue-green planet and black paper. The iridescent tentacles inside the planet’s blue surface show more at certain angles, but the salt crystals on top obscure the images a little, making it more of a secret for those who pick up the frame and look closely.
Blue Planet 3, 5″x5″ salt and watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Blue Planet 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can just see the subtle transition of a tentacle inside where it meets up with one of the outer tentacles. Below, the piece sits happily in its frame, just waiting to invade its new home… with tentacles, of course.
Blue Planet 3, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
Blue Planet 1
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Blue Planet 1, watercolor by Amy Crook
This week I’m posting a series of 4 similar paintings, though slightly out of order out of respect for Tentacle Tuesday. I was revisiting some of my more scifi-themed work to decide what if anything I wanted to put in the art show at BayCon this year, and I decided that it had been too long since I painted one of my planets. I added some iridescent green paint in with my remaining mixture of salt and French Ultramarine and got to work.
I’ve numbered them in the order they were painted, this one first. As you can see, the salt crystals are tiny and fine, and the shape runs off the edge of the paper, which is totally what the salt water did. I think it looks a bit like a comet, or some shadowy binary planet, floating in space.
Blue Planet 1, 5″x5″ watercolor and salt on Arches cover black paper.
Blue Planet 1, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the tiny sparkle of salt crystals, the subtle shimmer of the green paint and the sheen of opaque, matte blue that rests between the two. The paint and salt settle out on their own, once I apply the solution and some patience, giving me something unique each time. Below, of course, is the painting tucked into its frame, hanging out with my iPhone for size reference.
Blue Planet 1, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, blue, blue planet, for sale, green, iridescent, planet, salt, watercolor
Tea sketch
Sunday, April 29th, 2012
Tea pencil sketch by Amy Crook
After the week I’ve had, I could use a good cuppa. Shall I pour you one, too?
Categories: Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: nfs, pencil, sketch, tea
Cartoon: Jocelyne Leach
Saturday, April 28th, 2012
Jocelyne Leach as a Cartoon by Amy Crook
I like to think Jocelyne’s cartoon really shows how far I’ve come with this style of art. She’s doing a simple yoga pose with the legs, has her logo on her tank top, and is toasting us with a tasty green smoothie in her left hand. I think this tall, skinny image is going to go in her sidebar to welcome guests to her website.
Here’s to you, Jocelyne, for being a great client!
If you’d like to Be a Cartoon yourself, just click here to see how! (Hint: there’s a button at the bottom of the page to buy.)
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
Tags: all rights reserved, be a cartoon, cartoon, commission, copic marker, nfs, pen and ink
Baker Street Tinies: B is for Baker Street, interior
Friday, April 27th, 2012
Baker Street Tinies: B is for Baker Street, interior, drawing by Amy Crook
Yesterday we saw the outside of 221b Baker street, and today it’s the interior. My Baker Street Tinies series combines the world of the recent Sherlock series from the BBC with the worlds and aesthetics of Edward Gorey.
Nicole and Mo wanted to celebrate their own love and their love of Sherlock Holmes with tattoos, and so we created a unique Gorey-ish vision of 221b Baker Street for each of them. You can’t have the originals — they’re spoken for — but you can get the designs on greeting cards at Etsy!
The wallpaper is straight out of the tv show, as are the fireplace and the antelope skull with its white headphones, though in the show none of these things are on the same wall. John’s Union Jack pillow is sitting on a very Gorey-ish sofa, along with Sherlock’s ubiquitous deerstalker cap. The mantel holds Sherlock’s skull, some mail jackknifed into the wood, a portrait of the pair of them, and abandoned milk with cold tea next to it. Now we know why they always have to buy more milk.
The bookshelf on the right is full of little details, most of which are hard to see without looking at the bigger version.
I really enjoyed working on this pair of drawings for Nicole and Mo, and I hope the tattoos come out beautifully. It was a great challenge to reference so many things in two tiny pieces of art, from the tv series to the books to the art and worlds of Edward Gorey. I’m already thinking about what I’ll do with them next!
Categories: Completed Commissions, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: 221b baker street, baker street tinies, edward gorey, etsy, nfs, sherlock, sold
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