Archive for the ‘Floating Gallery’ Category

Surrender

Friday, September 4th, 2020

Surrender, 6″x6″ watercolor on paper

I found this pose on the model’s tumblr, and it made me think of the Winter Soldier from the comics, who is shorter and more slender than the absolute unit from the MCU.

I wanted to experiment both with the figure drawing and some unusual color choices, using shades of blue and violet for the shadows as a contrast to the pinkish white boy skin tones.

Poor Bucky looks so vulnerable, with his little feet curled under and his hands behind his head, a deliberate contrast to the intimidating picture he makes in his full uniform and face mask, armed to the teeth and dangerous all day.

Surrender, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see how the blues and pinks and purples are layered rather than mixed to create shadow and highlight spaces in the figure. Below, he’s trapped in a frame, just waiting to find out what happens next.

Surrender, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Nudes and Other Sexy Things, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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GPS

Thursday, September 3rd, 2020

GPS, 6″x4″ watercolor on black paper

If you’re not looking for murder, perhaps some direction will do.

This is a GPS satellite, painted for a calendar cover to represent both technology and direction needed in 2021. The sunrise is just glinting over the curve of the earth in the background, a reminder that the sun continues to rise, and the atmosphere that we breathe is the thinnest of layers between us and the void.

It’s painted in metallic and opaque watercolors on black paper, so the sky is an even, velvety charcoal studded with distant stars.

GPS, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the gold of dawn just starting to glint over the Earth’s horizon. Below, the whole of space is laid out in a frame, just waiting to go to its forever home.

GPS, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Blue Moon Murder

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2020

Blue Moon Murder, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper

This piece is in a category I call “more cowbell.” I took an older Blue Moon painting and put a bird on it. Or three, to be accurate.

It’s a small murder, but it checks out.

There’s a rich texture both on the paper and in the paint here, with the black sky and haloed moon both highlighting and concealing the crows. They’ve got some gorgeous blue and violet in their feathers, especially the two in the shadows, and their eyes contain a tiny glint of iridescent paint.

Doesn’t your life need a little murder?

Blue Moon Murder, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the crows, shadow on shadow, their purple-blue plumage fading into the textured black night sky. Below, they’re trapped in a frame like a view out a window that doesn’t exist.

Blue Moon Murder, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
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Where Lightning Once Was

Thursday, March 12th, 2020

a watercolor painting of a raven in flight, coming to land on the lightning-struck center of a spiky tree in front of a sunset, by Amy Crook

Where Lightning Once Was, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper

Another richly-colored sunset, this one is a smooth wash of red and orange with only the early moon to break it up.

The tree is spiky and strange, not quite a silhouette and filled with surprise sparkle in the depths of the trunk. Perhaps it’s all that’s left of the thorns that once caged in Sleeping Beauty, before the lightning and the prince both. In A purple-tinged raven is coming in for a landing in the open space amidst the destruction, finding room to accommodate its wingspan there.

There’s something a little vicious and rough about both the tree and the bird; they’re clearly made for each other.

Where Lightning Once Was, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see this mantled raven, its eye a baleful glint out of its dark feathers. Below, the painting is framed, though it will soon make its way to another frame, another home.

Where Lightning Once Was, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
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Both Alike in Dignity

Sunday, March 8th, 2020

a watercolor painting of a dove in a branch, a flying crow, and a stormy sky behind them both, by Amy Crook

Both Alike in Dignity, 5″x7″ watercolor on paper

Two birds, both alike in dignity…

This is one of those “more cowbell” pieces that used to be something else, and now is something better. It’s the same storm as above, perhaps, but lower to the ground, closer to home. Leaves and the first drops of rain are suspended in the moment, with the carefree crow below while the dove above is already safe in its nest.

Which one are you, the one out playing in the rain, or the enjoying the weather from home where it’s warm and dry?

Both Alike in Dignity, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the crow silhouetted against the stormy sky, determined to get home despite the winds and clouds. Below, the painting is framed and waiting to find shelter in its new home.

Both Alike in Dignity, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Ash Print

Saturday, March 7th, 2020

an ink wash painting of a footprint with ash trailing away from it, by Amy Crook

Ash Print, 5″x7″ ink on paper

In the final installment of my Ash Ghost series, we have a single footprint, already being blown away by a wind that doesn’t seem to be as forceful as the dissolution would suggest.

The soft subtle texture feels like charcoal but is actually ink, layered in to get the depth and texture of a pile of powder.

The real question is, how does something with no feet leave footprints?

Ash Print, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the texture of paper and ink playing off each other, swirls like ash blowing on the unseen winds. Below, the painting waits in a frame, a moment forever preserved.

Ash Print, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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Three Crows 2

Friday, March 6th, 2020

three crows with shining eyes flying past a setting sun, and a twisted, spooky tree, watercolor by Amy Crook

Three Crows 2, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper

Sometimes original, amazing titles come to me, and sometimes you get Three Crows 2.

The art that goes with the uninspired title, however, has a gorgeous sky full of hidden shimmer in the sunset-painted clouds. The tree twists out into the middle ground with gorgeously shaded branches, and the three crows have just enough spook and shimmer to them to stand out beautifully against both. Their eyes are painted with a dot of one of my favorite weird paints that shimmers from red to green like a scarab.

Where do you need a little bit of spookiness in your spring?

Three Crows 2, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see two of the crows flying past the shimmering clouds, their eyes reflecting unknown secrets. Below, this deceptively small painting is waiting in its frame to be whisked away to a new environment, with new secrets to be learned.

Three Crows 2, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
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