Archive for the ‘Floating Gallery’ Category
Death of a Comet
Wednesday, January 8th, 2014
Death of a Comet, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
This painting feels a little like a Rorschach blot to me — I look and see ephemera, fleeting beauty, something that will melt or shift or fade away. Frost on a dark window. Clouds lit up against a midnight sky. Or the comet ISON that it’s named for, breaking up in the blackness of space after flying, Icarus-like, too close to the sun.
What do you see?
Death of a Comet, 7″x5″ iridescent watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Death of a Comet, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the iridescent paint seems to float above the black paper. This paper is made by setting off a chemical process in the paper pulp rather than dying, so the color will stay a rich, soft black for years. Below, you can see it contrast with the shining paint in sunlight, blossoming in the simple frame.
Death of a Comet, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: black paper, iridescent, nfs, sold, watercolor
Shadow
Tuesday, January 7th, 2014
Shadow, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
This is really more of a zen spiral than a circle, but the softly broken brush strokes at the top make me think of a zen circle anyway. The pigments pooled and settled with the texture of the paper, giving it more detail than you would think for such a small, simple painting.
Everything about this painting is subtle, muted, desaturated. It makes me think of shadows on a cloudy day, softened by the lack of direct light but still there if you think to look.
Shadow, 5″x5″ watercolor on watercolor paper.
Shadow, detail, by Amy Crook
The photo above is tinged blue by the sun, but you can still see the textures of paper and paint, and how they interact to create layers of detail. Below, you can see it in a frame, hanging out with my cell phone for size.
Shadow, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: for sale, watercolor, zen circle
Fairy Flower
Saturday, December 7th, 2013
Fairy Flower by Amy Crook
Our week of the Floating Gallery is almost over! It closes Sunday night, and all the art floats away, leaving me to relax and enjoy my holiday season.
As part of my long month of working on the sequel to The Courtship of Julian St. Albans, I decided to do an illustration for the cover. There’s a lot of plants in the second book, but the fairy flowers feature in both of them, and I wanted to give a visual to them.
They’re described as a common flower, so I wanted something that reminded me of the wildflowers I picked as a kid, but that had a bit of magical whimsy to them. You can just imagine the butterfly fairies that are attracted to these little blossoms, giving luck to your home as a reward for letting them grow.
Fairy Flowers, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Fairy Flower, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the flower’s five fat little petals, and the way the purple ink wanted to bleed out past the lines. Tricksy blending. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with Horace, the bird from the cover of the first book.
Fairy Flower & Horace, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: apprenticeship, consulting magic, copic marker, for sale, i made this, julian st albans, pen and ink
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Exit Strategy
Friday, December 6th, 2013
Exit Strategy, abstract watercolor by Amy Crook
Go out of the week with a bang! This image is like a brilliant sun with vibrant, rich colours and shimmering Duochrome Autumn Mystery forming licks of fire and spattering explosions. Like a bullet through an apple, there’s and entry and a bigger, messier exit.
This explosive piece of art could brighten up a corner of your home with its mix of rich matte Japanese paints and the shimmering red-orange-gold of the duochrome paint, but only until Sunday when the Floating Gallery closes up shop once again.
Exit Strategy, 5″x5″ Japanese and duochrome watercolor on watercolor paper.
Exit Strategy, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the shiny paint catching the light and turning from red to gold. Below, you can see it in a frame, small enough to tuck into a little corner or fit on a desk, adding a bit of vibrant interest.
Exit Strategy, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Floating Gallery
Tags: duochrome, for sale, orange, watercolor, yellow
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Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?
Thursday, December 5th, 2013
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who? by Amy Crook
It’s Thursday of this December Floating Gallery week, and today I have an actual still life for you. I have a lot of nifty things, knickknacks and props and oddities, and I thought it would be fun to use some of them to explore the idea of a still life.
A lot of things we’re fans of evolve over time, reboot themselves, or just make changes, so it’s interesting to me to also see this as a reflection of the way our own love for things evolves with them. I have the 10th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver prop because that’s when I was interested enough to get one, but then the show’s moved on and the prop itself is only still current because of the 50th anniversary special.
This painting started with the deliberately loose, wobbly pen-and-ink outlines, and then it sat for a long time until finally I was inspired by The Day of the Doctor to finish it. I even added a little homage to the white paper in the foreground to help fill the big empty space.
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?, 8″x8″ pen & ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the sonic screwdriver and its soft blue glow. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, ready to bring a little grown-up fandom to your walls.
Still Life With Fandom 1: Who?, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: doctor who, for sale, pen and ink, watercolor
Five for Silver
Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013
Five for Silver, watercolor by Amy Crook
Tuesday seems like a good day for some crows flying through the gloaming. The moon has risen early, gibbous and pale above the evergreens. Soft clouds curl and five black birds fade ghostlike into the shimmering twilight sky.
This is a mix of very different paints that all fall under “watercolor,” with the trees done in pine-scented Christmas paint, the sky textured layers of shimmering Iridescent Moonstone, the moon made of opaque Japanese watercolor, and the birds a translucent black.
Five for Silver, 8″x4″ watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper.
Five for Silver, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some of the delicate shimmer on the sky, and the painterly brush strokes in the trees and birds. Below, I have it temporarily matted into a frame so you can get a feel for the unusual size.
Five for Silver, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, iridescent, moon, more cowbell, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
Cthonian Skies
Monday, December 2nd, 2013
Cthonian Skies by Amy Crook
The Floating Gallery has touched down for December, and I thought I’d start your Monday off strangely.
The swampy greens in this strange sky are laced with shimmering iridescence. The moon shimmers darkly beneath spirals of gold, and strange salt-formation stars radiate yet more gold into the gloomy mists of night. Perhaps this is what Cthulhu saw in his native skies, or what he sees now in the slice of reality he occupies as he slumbers deep beneath the waves — beautiful, maddening dreams of a night that never was.
Cthonian Skies, 5.5″x8.5″ pen & ink, salt, watercolor, and iridescent watercolor on acid-free embossed paper.
Cthonian Skies, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the sunlight making long shadows from the salt crystal stars, and the textures of paper and paint interacting. Below, it’s loosely attached to a frame for size. The final product will be properly matted and framed for shipping, to protect the nifty salty bits.
Cthonian Skies, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: for sale, gold, green, iridescent watercolor, lovecraft, moon, more cowbell, pen and ink, salt, spirals, watercolor
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