Archive for the ‘Floating Gallery’ Category
Sleep Until the Sun Goes Down
Monday, August 4th, 2014
Sleep Until the Sun Goes Down by Amy Crook
I’ve painted lots of skies full of crows, but today I decided to go a different way with my dark Halloween heart and paint bats. Because bats!
There’s a tiny hint of nighttime violet in the upper left, but it’s being chased away by the sunrise glowing at bottom of the painting, where seven winter-barren trees peek up into the frame. There’s 13 flying bats (of course) and 3 already sleeping in the lightning-split tree they call their home.
Sleep Until the Sun Goes Down, 8″x4″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Sleep Until the Sun Goes Down, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the bats coming in for a landing, and the three sleepers at the very top of the tree. Below, you can see the piece in a temporary frame, just waiting for the right wall to hold it.
Sleep Until the Sun Goes Down, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: baaaaaaaats, bats, horizons, nfs, pen and ink, sold, tree, watercolor
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That Thing You Love
Saturday, August 2nd, 2014
That Thing You Love, calligraphy by Amy Crook
“Don’t let anyone tell you that the thing you love is a thing you can’t love.”
-Wil Wheaton
I created this piece as part of a gift for my awesome email list people, but I wanted to make the actual artwork available, too. Like any watercolor, there’s detail that gets lost in the print, plus it’s just awesome to know that yours is the one and only original.
This quote is from an impromptu, impassioned diatribe on “why it’s awesome to be a nerd” that Wil Wheaton gave when asked at a con for some advice for their baby girl to grow up geek, and it’s really good advice. The whole speech is pretty awesome, actually.
That Thing You Love, 9″x12″ pen & ink and watercolor on watercolor paper.
That Thing You Love, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the little cheesy ’70s sunrise face in the middle of the word ‘anyone,’ and below you can see the piece laying on my desk with my iPhone for size, because it turns out I don’t actually own a frame the right size. Oops.
That Thing You Love, calligraphic art by Amy Crook,
quote by Wil Wheaton
Categories: Floating Gallery, Things I'm a Fan Of, Whimsical and Strange, Words Words Words
Tags: calligraphy, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor, wil wheaton, word art
Observance
Thursday, July 3rd, 2014
Observance by Amy Crook
I almost managed to get all the pieces for July’s Floating Gallery into the blog beforehand, but this one was finished just under the wire. I think this is the single most reworked salt painting I’ve ever done, using multiple applications of both water and very watery paint to give the appearance of scattered stars and nebulae in the sky above the observatory in the mountains below.
There’s a lot of sparkle in this painting, too, each little salt crystal catches the light at a slightly different angle, making the stars twinkle as the light moves over the surface.
Observance, 6″x6″ salt and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Observance, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the formations of salt and watercolor that catch the light, sparkling into strange shapes in the night sky. Below, the painting is temporarily tucked into a frame, full of subtle color and light despite the dark palette.
Observance, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: for sale, more cowbell, salt, stars, watercolor
Crows in the Gloaming
Friday, June 27th, 2014
Crows in the Gloaming, watercolor by Amy Crook
I’m deeply dissatisfied with Photoshop’s inability to show the soft, mysterious violets in this, instead turning it magenta and blue and every color but the ones you get in the real thing. The crows themselves are a dusky, matte black that really pops, the three phases of flight gliding past the clouds in the purple twilight.
I’m really happy with how these crows look, almost completely in silhouette with just a little bit of soft detail on the far wings of the outer two, with the one in the center a dark blot on the sky.
It probably says something about me that I like dark blots on the sky.
Crows in the Gloaming, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Crows in the Gloaming, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the upper left crow, with just a little granulated light shining off the feathers here and there. Below, you can see the piece in a temporary frame, with the closest color to the real thing. But still not right, dammit.
Crows in the Gloaming, framed art by Amy Crook
Crows in the Gloaming will be available for purchase in July’s Floating Gallery. You can get a chance to snag it early if you’re on my list.
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, for sale, purple, watercolor
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia
Thursday, June 26th, 2014
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia
pen and ink art by Amy Crook
It’s been a while since I drew one of my Series of Uncanny Fears, and clowns seemed like a natural choice to bring them back. This happy guy just wants to bring joy and laughter to the world. Joy, laughter, and murder.
Definitely murder.
If you’re not too scared, you’ll have a chance to take him home in July’s Floating Gallery, which opens next Tuesday!
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia, 5″x7″ pen & ink on paper.
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a detail of his cheerful face with its lopsided, toothy grin and big, happy red nose. I’m sure he’s not thinking about eating you, honest. Below, you can see him safely tucked away in a frame, just waiting to come sit quietly in a corner of your home.
A Series of Uncanny Fears: Coulrophobia, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, People, Figures and Faces, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: a series of uncanny fears, clowns, crosshatching, edward gorey, for sale, gorey, pen and ink, uncanny fears
Invent the Universe
Wednesday, June 25th, 2014
Invent the Universe by Amy Crook
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
– Carl Sagan
Whether you see a big bang for just the light at the end of the tunnel, this painting feels full of possibility. If you wish to succeed at any endeavor, you have to invent inside yourself the universe in which it can happen. What’s amazing to me is that you can do it, that people can bring whole worlds to life inside themselves and then make them a part of our world, as well.
What do you want in your Universe?
Invent the Universe, 8″x8″ Japanese and metallic watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Invent the Universe, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the silver paint picking up the light as it curves around the central vortex. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, glowing with sunlight and possibility.
Invent the Universe, framed art by Amy Crook
This painting will be available in July’s Floating Gallery; join my list to get an early chance at it.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Things I'm a Fan Of, Words Words Words
Tags: aglow, calligraphy, carl sagan, metallic, nfs, silver, sold, watercolor
1 Comment »
Murder Plaid
Tuesday, June 24th, 2014
Murder Plaid, abstract art by Amy Crook
Even though Hannibal and I are on a break that will, I suspect, last beyond the actual hiatus of the show, I couldn’t resist making a reference in the title of this painting. There’s layers of semi-opaque Japanese watercolor in four shades of red, mixing and blurring until you get a very creepy not-quite-face staring out at you from something resembling a murder scene. The broken gold lines run through the whole thing like gold thread through one of Dr. Lecter’s murder ties, not to mention the understated plaids that make up most of his wardrobe.
Murder Plaid, 5″x7″ Japanese and metallic watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Murder Plaid, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the textured pinks and reds and oranges layered together, with light glinting off the ‘threads’ of gold. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, staring at you, daring you to take it home.
Murder Plaid, framed art by Amy Crook
It really is that creepy in person. Also, now in a drawer.
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: black paper, for sale, gold, hannibal, japanese watercolor, meta, watercolor
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