Archive for the ‘Flowers, Trees and Landscapes’ Category
Fairytale Sky 6
Monday, December 24th, 2012
Fairytale Sky 6 by Amy Crook
This sixth Fairytale Sky painting was another Christmas gift, it seems to be a trend this year! This one’s for a good friend and patron of mine who bought the 1st and 5th paintings out of the series, so it seemed only fitting to paint one specifically for her (as she puts it) “Wall of Amy.” The swirling clouds in this one go from pink to purple depending on the angle, shimmering with a mysterious iridescence that’s just faintly echoed in the moon.
Fairytale Sky 6, 6″x4″ watercolor on paper, nfs.
Fairytale Sky 6, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the way the colors shimmer on the black paper, silver for the stars and pink-purple for the spiraling clouds.
Happy Christmas Eve, or at least Happy Monday. Watch out for wayward Skellingtons impersonating Sandy Claws tonight. ♥
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, fairytale sky, iridescent, japanese watercolor, moon, nfs, watercolor
Fairytale Sky 5
Friday, December 7th, 2012
Fairytale Sky 5 by Amy Crook
Friday’s always a good day for fairytales, don’t you think? Fairytale Sky 5 makes me think of those times when the clouds are just starting to break up and the moon is peeking through, wreathed in mysterious mists.
I used water to add lighter places to the blue-black background, then swirled clouds in interference violet, that look silver from one angle and vivid purple the next. The moon, too, is limned with silver, adding shine to this bit of deep night.
Fairytale Sky 5, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Fairytale Sky 5, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the light shining off the silver moon and violet clouds on a background of velvety midnight blue. Below, you can see the piece in a frame, just waiting for the right wall. You can even see Pod lurking in the background, waiting for me to stop all my foolish picture-taking and pet him.
Fairytale Sky 5, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: fairytale sky, iridescent, japanese watercolor, moon, nfs, sold, watercolor
Fairytale Sky 3
Monday, December 3rd, 2012
Fairytale Sky 3 by Amy Crook
Having already seen Fairytale Sky 4, you might wonder what happened to 3. Well, it was a gift for a friend and it had to make it all the way to Mongolia! I chose a paint called “Duochrome Tropical Sunrise,” which switches between warm golden and bright green tones, and painted a slender crescent moon to go with the spirally clouds.
Fairytale Sky 3, 5″x5″ watercolor on paper, nfs.
Fairytale Sky 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the warm coppery-gold color the paint turns at a certain angles. Below, you can see what it looks like in the frame that kept it safe all the way to Ulaanbaatar.
Fairytale Sky 3, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, fairytale sky, iridescent, moon, nfs, watercolor
Fairytale Sky Bookmark 2
Monday, November 26th, 2012
Fairytale Sky
Bookmark 2
by Amy Crook
It’s Bookmark Week again, the last one for the year! I think that a bookmark-sized piece of original art makes a wonderful holiday gift idea or stocking stuffer, don’t you?
We’ll start the week off with a sliver of a moon hiding half out of sight, with swirling, iridescent mist curling through the black sky. The mist is a color called “duochrome hibiscus” which wavers between a violet-ish blue and fuchsia, and definitely took on the bluer tone here.
Fairytale Sky Bookmark 2, 1″x6″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Fairytale Sky Bookmark 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a bit of the pink sheen on the cloud, and the tiny embedded sparkles as well. Below, you can see the bookmark with a fairly standard hardcover book for size.
Fairytale Sky Bookmark 2, with book, by Amy Crook
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, bookmark, fairytale sky, iridescent, nfs, sold, watercolor
Lost Arcadia
Monday, November 5th, 2012
Lost Arcadia, watercolor by Amy Crook
I’ve been reading a lot of HP Lovecraft lately, and aside from being occasionally stunned by the epic racism, I’ve noticed that a lot of his descriptions of paradise have a certain common form. There’s tall spires, glowing domes, beautiful temples and perfumed gardens awaiting the lucky person who can find the various lost cities. Of course, doom (or DOOM in the case of Sarnath) often comes to destroy those idyllic cities or sink them to the bottom of the ocean, but it wouldn’t be Lovecraft if it didn’t.
This is painted using three shades of near-black, the soft green, midnight blue and deep purple, and a tiny bit of actual black thinned out to almost nothing to give texture to the glowing moon, plus a wee bit of white for the few stars that peek out above the clouds. I like the loose way I can just paint with no sketch or reference using the blacks, getting a whole range of values that aren’t just plain grey due to the subtle tinting.
Lost Arcadia, 8″x8″ watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Lost Arcadia, detail 1, by Amy Crook
I have a hard time convincing Photoshop to clear away the blue tinge of sunlight from the image without over-saturating the subtle colors on the image, so I left the one above without much adjustment so you can see the detail on the buildings. Below, you can see the swirling blue-black clouds and violet-tinted night sky as it lightens up in the glow of the city below.
Lost Arcadia, detail 2, by Amy Crook
And finally I have it in a frame! My 8×8 frames don’t have stands, just wall hanging hardware, and my iPhone couldn’t jump that high, so I’m afraid you’ll have to imagine how they look together.
Lost Arcadia, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of
Tags: city, lovecraft, moon, nfs, sold, spirals, watercolor
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Fairytale Sky 4
Monday, October 29th, 2012
Fairytale Sky 4 by Amy Crook
I have to admit, this particular version of the moon and clouds is done to my very own color preferences, so it’s one of my favorites. There’s a hint of periwinkle in the curve of the huge horned moon, and the clouds are a soft, wispy mix of iridescent blue, interference purple and soft white. The silver stars are smudgy and twinkling on the black paper background, and the whole piece has the feeling of a magic in the air.
Fairytale Sky 4, 5″x5″ Japanese watercolor and duochrome watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Fairytale Sky 4, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the interplay of blue and purple in the shimmery clouds. Below, the piece is tucked into a frame (with no glass to reduce glare for the photo), and sitting with my iPhone 4s so you get an idea of the size.
Fairytale Sky 4, framed art by Amy Crook
(iPhone not included)
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, fairytale sky, for sale, iridescent, moon, periwinkle, watercolor
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Spiral Vines Bookmark
Friday, October 26th, 2012
Spiral Vines Bookmark by Amy Crook
More spirals! This time we have whimsical vines and lovely little flowers with their evil, evil pollen dotting the black page. This paper is thick and soft, and the black is actually not a dye but a chemical reaction they set off during the papermaking process, so it’s also quite lightfast and won’t rub off on your books.
Spiral Vines Bookmark, 5″x1″ Japanese watercolor on paper, nfs (sold).
Spiral Vines Bookmark, detail, by Amy Crook
Above you can see the swirling vines and happy little flowers up close and personal. Below, the bookmark sits happily on a book, waiting to serve its purpose.
Spiral Vines Bookmark, with book, by Amy Crook
(book is not included. book is not by the artist. do not taunt happy fun book.)
Categories: Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: black paper, bookmark, japanese watercolors, nfs, sold, spirals
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