Archive for the ‘Flowers, Trees and Landscapes’ Category

Bees 5

Friday, May 3rd, 2019

Bees 5 by Amy Crook, acrylic ink painting of busy bees on a semi-abstract honeycomb pattern

Bees 5, 7″x5″ acrylic ink on paper

Experimental bees! Acrylic ink is lightfast and dries waterproof, and these bees were the perfect test subject for a new medium.

The loose honeycomb make a gorgeous background for the painterly scribble of a busy hive of bees. They’re mostly concentrated in the corner where all the honey is, with the rest of the comb slowly floating off and away into the aether, adding a surrealist quality to the piece.

Bees 5, detail, by Amy Crook

Bees 5, detail, by Amy Crook

Above you can see these cheerful little bees against the soft cream paper and golden hexes. Below, these fellows are buzzing around in their own frame, just like in a proper hive.

Bees 5, framed art by Amy Crook

Bees 5, framed art by Amy Crook

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

Thursday, May 2nd, 2019

Moon Landing by Amy Crook, watercolor painting of a crow landing on a bare branch under a daylight moon

Moon Landing, 9″x12″ Primatek watercolor on paper

This started with a palette and a sky, and the tree grew in complexity and reached out just asking for a bird to alight on its outstretched branch. There’s a dim daytime moon just barely visible in the upper left corner, inspiring the punny name.

This painting has a really delightful, eerie quality with its soft sky and stark tree. The black bird has a beautiful organic quality to the motion of its feathers, and the reach of its feet. It looks like the branch is beckoning it in for a landing, for good or ill.

Moon Landing, Detail, by Amy Crook

Moon Landing, Detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the crow up close in all its gloomy glory. Below, this painting is in a frame, showing off its size by being almost as tall as the writing desk’s cubbies.

Moon Landing, framed art by Amy Crook

Moon Landing, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals
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Shiny Magikarp

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

a golden shiny magikarp leaping upward above a tiny pond far below, by Amy Crook

Shiny Magikarp, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper

Magikarp Jump is the most ridiculous game ever, and of course I had to celebrate the warm golden shiny with another commission from my Pokemon patron. This guy has a great height up above his tiny pond, so let’s hope he gets the best leap and doesn’t end up in a sad little pit.

Categories: Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
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Hillside

Friday, March 8th, 2019

Hillside by Amy Crook, a mist-shrouded tree against a glowing sky with a stooping bird of prey overhead

Hillside, 4″x6″ Primatek watercolor on paper

A bird of prey stoops above, but our mere human eyes can’t see what it’s diving for down in the scrub grass clinging to the hillside despite the season. The tree is stripped of its foliage, half vanishing against the twilight, everything softened by mist and distance.

The limited palette blends beautifully, mineral paints that cling together on the soft paper. The sunshine is rust, the sky turquoise and amethyst and barely-there vivianite, creating a glow against which the bloodstone paint seems almost transcendent.

There’s a missing corner on the lower right, but as you can see in the photo, a frame will easily hide the slight imperfection so only you and your artist will know it’s there.

Hillside, detail, by Amy Crook

Hillside, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the twining branches of the tree vanishing into the mists. Below, this small painting rests in its frame, the perfect size to tuck a bit of mystery into your life.

Hillside, framed art by Amy Crook

Hillside, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Whimsical and Strange
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Where the Sun Gives No Light

Thursday, March 7th, 2019

Where the Sun Gives No Light by Amy Crook, an alien city skyline against a strange sky filled with birds

Where the Sun Gives No Light, 8″x4″ watercolor on paper

Despite the bleak (and vaguely naughty) title, this painting is full of light and hope. The sun is a dim orb above the city but its light casts no shadows, which are instead from something off the page entirely.

There’s soft glasslike round buildings, strange towers, completely normal skyscrapers, and of course a sneaky cat. Whimsy and wonder in one alien city, silhouetted against a glow that has no source but still illuminates better than the wan sunlight.

Where the Sun Gives No Light, detail, by Amy Crook

Where the Sun Gives No Light, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the warm stripe of light reflecting off the distant skyline. Below, the city waits in a temporary frame, trying to find its forever world.

Where the Sun Gives No Light, framed art by Amy Crook

Where the Sun Gives No Light, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Life Is Not the Same

Tuesday, March 5th, 2019

Life Is Not the Same by Amy Crook, surreal paint-smear trees against soft purple clouds

Life Is Not the Same, 8″x4″ watercolor on paper

This painting started with such bright skies, it’s not really a surprise that it took such a surrealist bent all the way to the finish line. The trees in the foreground seem almost hyperreal against the softness of the clouds, with a red hawk gliding between the two states.

Perhaps it’s hunting reality.

The title is from the Spiderverse soundtrack, the line, “Life is not the same with your picture in my frame,” that somehow spoke to the sense that each component of this painting lives in a slightly different universe from the others.

Life Is Not the Same, detail, by Amy Crook

Life Is Not the Same, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the red hawk, circling among the fuzzy clouds, above the brushstroke trees. Below, the painting is waiting in a temporary frame to fly to its new destination.

Life Is Not the Same, framed art by Amy Crook

Life Is Not the Same, framed art by Amy Crook

Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Blue Moon 6

Monday, March 4th, 2019

Blue Moon 6 by Amy Crook, three crows flying against a blue near-full moon in a swirling dark sky

Blue Moon 6, 6″x4″ gouache and watercolor on paper

A blue moon hangs gibbous in the dark of night, mysterious colors peeking out through the mist around it. Three birds make their way across, neither entirely silhouetted nor completely illuminated.

This was almost “three for a death” after a different version of the counting crows rhyme, though these feel more like ravens to me. An unkindness of three, though who knows how many more are lurking among the swirling shadows.

Whether waxing or waning, the moon floats serenely in a halo of its own light, secure that the time will bring its cycle back to full soon enough.

Blue Moon 6, detail, by Amy Crook

Blue Moon 6, detail, by Amy Crook

Above, you can see the moon glowing, the spirals of darkness reaching, and the ravens soaring. Below, you can see this small art in its frame, perfect for tucking a piece of once upon a time into your own space.

Blue Moon 6, framed art by Amy Crook

Blue Moon 6, framed art by Amy Crook

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