Archive for the ‘Flowers, Trees and Landscapes’ Category
Fairytale Cottage
Tuesday, March 7th, 2017
Fairytale Cottage, 6″x6″ watercolor and gel pen on Fluid watercolor paper
Calling to mind the darker side of fairytales, this shadowy cottage lurks against a rainy sky. The brightness of white clouds and gingerbread detailing is almost unsettling in it sweetness, with everything around it muted and grey.
In a strange reversal, only the frothy white curlicues look solid, while the house and sky seem like mere shadows behind the spirals.
What’s your favorite fairytale, and which ending do you prefer?
Fairytale Cottage, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see up close the slightly raised spirals on the buildings and the softly receding spirals of the clouds, decorating the shadowy secrets held by this confectionary cottage. Below, the frame becomes a window into a dark fairy tale world.
Fairytale Cottage, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: clouds, for sale, gel pen, spirals, watercolor
Gilded Sunset
Friday, March 3rd, 2017
Gilded Sunset, 8″x8″ watercolor on Arches watercolor paper
This stunning painting would add a bright pop of warmth to any space. Rosy metallic gold sparkles off the shadowy buildings, backed by a brilliant sunset in reds, oranges, and pinks. You have to see this one in person to really appreciate its beauty.
Limned in light, this city skyline frames the red sun perfectly, hazy clouds making the sky above seem endless as it fades from gold to red. The sun itself is a glowing red sinking toward the horizon, just about the vanish for the night. A flock of birds floats above it all, circling in the sultry sunset.
Gilded Sunset, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the beautiful metallic watercolor shining up close, the warm rose gold a perfect complement to the brilliant sunset. Below, the painting is framed and waiting for just the right wall – is it yours?
Gilded Sunset, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: city, horizons, metallic, nfs, sold, sunset, watercolor
Blood Moon 8
Wednesday, February 8th, 2017
Blood Moon 8, 8″x8″ ink and watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Continuing my tradition of painting things that don’t scan well, this new addition to the Blood Moon series has a midnight blue sky and a bright blood red moon, with a deep black tree intersecting both shapes.
The dusky night sky swirls around the blood moon, holding hints of the same red in its depths. The horizon is close enough that a tree seems to grow from the edge of the page, rising up in skeletal silhouette to make intricate black lace against the distant sky.
This painting is gorgeous in person, fascinating in its mix of rich texture and limited color palette.
Blood Moon 8, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see a much better view of the dusky blue, brilliant red, and delicately textured black of the sky, moon, and tree contrasting beautifully together. Below, you can see how elegantly this painting occupies its frame, just waiting to add its eerie light to your life.
Blood Moon 8, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: blood moon, brush and ink, for sale, horizons, moon, primatek, tree, watercolor
Four for a Boy
Monday, February 6th, 2017
Four for a Boy, 6″x6″ Primatek watercolor on Fluid watercolor paper
Mist obscures everything in this painting but the outline of a gnarled, drooping tree, branches bare in winter with just the tiniest hint of buds at their ends. Four black birds approach through the fog, and a figure all but dissolves into mist himself.
Is it foggier than it looks, or is the figure merely a trick of the eye?
This fourth installment of Counting Crows would make a lovely, creepy addition to your home, something to contemplate when the sun has burned away the mists of the day.
Four for a Boy, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the eerie figure staring out from the mists, surrounded by the tree’s bare branches. Below, the piece is safely in a frame, just waiting to find the right house to haunt.
Four for a Boy, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, People, Figures and Faces, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: bloodstone, counting crows, crow, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
Blood Moon 7
Monday, December 5th, 2016
Blood Moon 7, 6″x6″ ink, watercolor, and gel pen on Fluid watercolor paper
An impressive wingspan gives the bird a gorgeous silhouette against this rich, golden-red blood moon. There are subtle copper stars twinkling in the black sky, and the whole image holds the rich texture of the paper it’s painted on.
The dramatic red and black would be beautiful in a wide black frame, but even in the narrow one in the photo it really makes a statement.
Where in your life do you need wings?
Blood Moon 7, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the texture of feathers, of the surface of the moon, and the twinkle of stars out in the space beyond. Below, the small frame beautifully contains this dramatic work of art.
Blood Moon 7, detail, by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: blood moon, carrion crow, ink wash, moon, nfs, red, sold, watercolor
Autumn Leaves 2
Friday, December 2nd, 2016
Autumn Leaves 2, 7″x5″ ink wash on paper
A motley of red autumn leaves tumble in the breeze on this loose, lovely ink painting.
The colors range from soft reds to warm golden browns, getting lighter and looser as they fade into the background.
Oak and maple, aspen and apple, they celebrate the glory of fall.
What’s your favorite season?
Autumn Leaves 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the rich ink glow against the white paper, this oak leaf evoking all the colors of fall. Below, the piece is displayed in a frame, safe from the vagaries of wind and winter.
Autumn Leaves 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: autumn leaves, brush and ink, for sale, ink wash, j herbin, orange, red
Autumn Leaves
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2016
Autumn Leaves, 7″x5″ brush and ink on paper
Happy Thanksgiving* from America!
Despite everything about the country turning into a slow-burning trash fire, I’m still really grateful for a lot of things in life. My patrons who support me, my friends who put up with me, my family who loves me, and even my cats.
I asked my Patreon patrons to request two sketches last month to help fill out my Inktober calendar, and this was Kim’s second request. I used four different J. Herbin inks, including the lovely gold-accented Rouge Hematite, and did a loose, tumbling clutter of fallen leaves, blown together by an unseen wind. I can just hear the crunch-crunch of them underfoot.
You can get this lovely image on a card in my Etsy shop, and celebrate your own love of the changing seasons.
Autumn Leaves greeting card by Amy Crook at Etsy
yes, the actual holiday is tomorrow
Categories: Card Design, Completed Commissions, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes
Tags: autumn, autumn leaves, brush and ink, etsy, j herbin, kim, nfs, patreon, sold
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